THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

Ex  Llbris 

Katharine  F.  Richmond 

and 
Henry  C.  Fall 


I  ••  B  ••••••••••••  n  •••  *  H 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF     THE 

CENTSMNIAL 


CELEBRATION, 


AT 


Bradford,    N.    H. 


SEPT.    27,    1887. 


B    B 


•   ••••••VI 


OF    THE 


AT 


Bradford,    Merrimack  Co.,   N.   H. 

On     Tuesday    September,     27,     1887, 
Incorporated     September    27,    1787. 


BRADFORD,    N.    H. 
A.    P.    HOWE   &   SON,    PUBLISHERS. 

1887. 


PREPARATION     FOR,     AND    PROCEEDINGS 
IN    CONNECTION    WITH    THE    CEN- 
TENNIAL     CELEBRATION. 


AT  the  Annual  Meeting,  March  8,  1887,  the  town  voted  to 
celebrate  its  Centennial  Anniversary,  and  voted  the  sum  of  two 
hundred  dollars  to  defray  the  expenses  connected  therewith,  and 
chose  a  committee  to  arrange  and  execute  all  business  necessary 
towards  its  successful  issue.  This  committee  was  as  follows  : — 
CHARLES  F.  DAVIS,  HORACE  K.  MARTIN,  and  GEORGE  S.  MORGAN. 

The  committee  held  their  first  meeting  in  June  and  chose  Charles 
F.  Davis  Secretary  and  Treasurer.  They  met  as  often  as  occasion 
required,  and  invited  Hon.  Bainbridge  Wadleigh  and  Hon.  John  Q. 
A.  Brackett  to  deliver  addresses.  Mrs.  Frank  Cressy  of  Concord, 
was  invited  to  prepare  a  poem  for  the  occasion.  All  responded 
heartily  to  the  duties  assigned  them.  Subcommittees  were  appoint- 
ed, and  with  unsparing  labor  and  care  we  made  ready  for  the  day. 

Two  hundred  and  seventy  requests,  in  form  as  follows,  were 
sent  by  mail. 

CENTENNIAL     CELEBRATION. 

BRADFORD,    N.   H.   JUNE  27,  1887. 
To  the  citizens  of  Bradford  : 

The  Centennial  Committee  respectfully  request  that 
each  family  in  town  should  send  to  the  Post  Master  in  said  Brad- 
ford the  names  and  addresses  of  all  relatives  and  friends,  who  were 
former  residents  of  said  town,  at  as  early  date  as  possible,  so  as 
to  enable  your  committee  to  send  to  each  a  letter  of  invitation  to 
attend  the  celebration  which  will  take  place  September,  27,  1887. 
RESPECTFULLY, 

CHARLES  F.  DAVIS,      )        n 

HORACE  K.  MARTIN,  Commit  ee   on  the 

GEORGE  S.  MORGAN,   f    Centennial  Celebration. 


1 C66730 


The  names  came  in  very  liberally  from  the  interested  citizens,  anrl 
five  hundred  invitations,  in  form   as  follows  were  sent  by  maiL 


BRADFORD,  N.  H.r  JULY,  1887, 
Mr.  .. 

You  are  cordially  invited  to  be  present  and  unite  with  us  in  celebrat- 
ing the  One  Hundredth  Anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  our  town. 

The  reumon  of  former  residents  of  thts  town,  relatives',  friends,  and 
their  descendeftts,  will  be  a  pleasant  and  important  feature,  including- 
as  it  will  a  renewal  of  friendship,  interchanges  of  pleasant  reminis- 
cences, and  a  recital  of  facts,  which  will  serve  to  brighten  the  mem- 
ories of  the  past  and  awaken  a  patriotic  pride  in  the  future  prosperity 
of  this  Grand  Old  Town. 

Nestled  as  it  is  in  the  two  valleys  of  Sunapee  and  Massassecum, 
and  surrounded  by  the  eternal  hills  of  Nature's  own  protection,  her 
sons  and  daughters  can  contribute  at  this  time  such  a  tribute  as  will 
fill  a  page  in  its  history  that  will  be  remembered  by  its  people  forever. 

Trusting  we  shall  receive  your  letter  of  acceptance  at  an  early  date, 
we  remain,  very  truly  yours, 

CHARLES     F.    DAVIS,  f  Centenniai  Celebration 
HORACE  K.    MARTIN,  >      ^          f  r>    At     ?   XT    u 
GEORGE  S.   MORGAN!  \     Com'  °f  Bradford'  N"  H' 

The  celebration  was  held  at  the  north  village  of  the  town.  The 
Baptist  Society  kindly  gave  the  use  of  the  church  and  vestry,  which 
were  very  tastefully  and  appropriately^  decorated  for  the  occasion 
with  evergreens  and  flowers,  and  behind  the  .pulpit  was  the  word 
"CENTENNIAL,"  and  the  dates,  "1787:  -  18H7  :"  in  evergreen 
letters,  surrounded  by  the  American  flag  gracefully  draped  from 
the  ceiling,  and  upon  the  walls  were  placed  numerous  pictures  of 
citizens  of  Bradford  who  have  made  their  names  famous  in  American 
history. 

One  room  in  the  Town  House  was  used  as  an  antiquarian 
room  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Artemas  W.  Chellis.  It  is  justice 
to  say  that  Mr.  Chellis  managed  this  department  with  remarkably 
good  taste,  and  it  was  a  very  interesting  feature  of  the  occasion, 
many  of  the  relics  being  very  ancient.  A  list  of  the  articles,  and 
the  names  of  their  exhibitors,  may  be  found  below. 

Exhibited  by  Mrs.  Mason  W.  Tappan  : — 
Saddle  and  Trappings,  used  by   her   illustrious  husband,    in    the 


hitc  Rebellion,  als>o  his  military  hat,  and  the  sword    carried   by   him 
while  in  command   of   the   first  New  Hampshire  Volunteers. 

These  articles  are,  perhaps,  interesting  more  for  their  identifica- 
tion with  the  great  events  they  so  vividly  call  to  mind,  than  for  their 
great  antiquity. 

Exhibited  by  Addison  S.  Cressy  : — 

A  sword  captured  from  a  British  marine,  in  Paul  Jones'  encoun- 
ter with  the  United  States  ship  Seraphis  ;  a  shot  fired  into  Bunker 
Hill,  by  the  British,  in  the  memorable  battle  of  June  17.  1775; 
an  iron  vice,  made  by  Richard  Cressy,  and  carried  by  him  through 
the  Revolutionary  War;  a  screw  driver  used  in  the  same  war; 
the  door  handle  of  the  old  town  house  at  Bradford  Center,  made 
by  Richard  Cressy  in  1797,  and  ornamented  with  the  figures  of 
two  angels,  and  bearing  the  following  inscription  :  — 

''While  Truth  and  Benevolence  reign  within,  the  angels  keep 
the  door."  Eye  glasses,  set  in  leather,  and  enclosed  in  a  wooden 
box.  supposed  to  be  three  hundred  years  old  ;  an  old  tooth  puller, 
formerly  used  by  Richard  Cressy,  and  so  old  that  it  has  no  teeth  ; 
two  passes  from  the  pen  of  General  Stark,  of  Revolutionary  fame, 
well  written  and  legible,  but  yellow  with  age. 

Exhibited  by  Mr.  A.  W.    Chellis:— 

Ancient  block  tin  tea-pot  and  water-pot,  nearly  one  hundred 
years  old ;  a  pair  of  brass  andirons,  very  ancient ;  very  curious 
table,  more  than  a  century  old  ;  very  ancient  pewter  platter. 

Exhibited  by  Augusta  H.  Eaton. — 

Ancient  oath  ;  homespun  table-cloth,  used  at  Congregational  ser- 
vice in  the  old  meeting  house  at  Bradford  Center  in  1806  ;  catalogue 
of  officers  and  students  of  Bradford  Academy,  Benjamin  F.  Wal- 
lace, instructor ;  school  record  of  the  school  district  at  Bradford 
Center,  for  the  year  1837,  one  hundred  pupils  ;  framed  photograph 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Elisha  Eaton;  picture  of  Elisha  Eaton's  home- 
stead, painted  by  Augusta  H.  Eaton  ;  India  ink  map  of  the  world, 
executed  by  Eliza  P.  Eaton,  in  1832  ;  silhouette  of  Eliza  P.  Eaton  ; 
coat  worn  by  Mr.  Chellis  at  the  centennial,  and  formerly  owned 
by  Elisha  Eaton,  seventy-five  years  ago. 

Exhibited  by  Mrs.    L.    B.    Courser : — 

A  large  pewter  platter,  owned  by  Daniel  Webster's  father  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  years  ago  ;  a  footstool  one  hundred  years  old. 


Exhibited    by    L.    B.    Batman  : — 
A  warming  pan   one  hundred  and  fifty  years  old. 

Exhibited    by    Mrs.    Daniel    Can* : — 
Homespun   linen,    one   hundred  years  old. 

Exhibited    by    Frank   T.    Carr  :— 
Old  coins,   flask,   and   bottle,  very  ancient  and  curious. 

Exhibited    by   Mrs.    S.    B.    Craddock  :— 

A  centennial  mug,  very  ancient  and  suggestive  of  home  brewed 
beer,  and  a  pewter  platter  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  old. 

Exhibited   by   Mrs.    N.    A.   Ripley:— 

A  plate  seventy-five  years  old,  and  a  tea-pot  which  looked  as 
though  it  might  have  held  the  "soothing  beverage"  as  long  ago  as 
the  great  "Boston  tea  party." 

Exhibited   by   Mr.  Oi   Hall:— 

A  spinning  wheel,  very  ancient  and  well  preserved,  and  a  bit 
stock. 

Exhibited  by   Mr.    Ira   Eaton  : — 

Two  oil  lamps,  that  dispensed  the  "light  of  other  days"  before 
petroleum  was  known. 

Exhibited    by    Mrs.  C.    L.    T.    Carr:- 
Lady's  stays,  supposed  to  have  been  worn  two  hundred  years  ago. 

Exhibited  by  Mrs.  G.  S.  Morgan  : — 

Two  homespun  handkerchiefs,  of  substantial  merit  and  fine 
workmanship. 

Exhibited   by   Mrs.    D.    P.    Emerson : — 

About  thirty  different  articles,  very  ancient,  and  many  of  them 
elegant. 

Exhibited   by   Mrs.    Sarah   E.    Buswell : — 

A  large  round  pewter  platter,  stamped  on  the  bottom  with  the 
word,  "London"  and  the  figures,  "1695." 

There  was  also  another  platter  on  exhibition,  (exhibitor  un- 
known,) supposed  to  be  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  years  old,  which 
was  on  exhibition  at  the  centennial  celebration  at  Philadelphia. 

The  above  articles  were  all  on  exhibition,  tastefully  and  con- 
veniently arranged,  and  added  much  to  the  interest  which  the  occa- 
sion awakened.  Much  credit  is  due  those  who  had  the  matter  in 


charge  for  the  efficient  manner  in  which  they  discharged  their  duties, 
a nd  the  readiness  with  which  they  answered  the  inquiries  of  visitors. 

The  food  for  the  invited  guests  and  the  assembled  multitude  was 
liberally  and  bountifully  supplied  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  town. 

The  committee  purchased  the  meats  and  a  portion  of  the  white 
bread :  ample  provision  was  made,  and  no  one  could  with  justice 
find  fault.  The  town  hall  was  set  with  tables  sufficient  to  accom- 
modate two  hundred  and  seventy-eight  persons  at  a  sitting,  and  a 
long  table  was  erected  outside  of  the  building  for  the  basket  com- 
mittee to  supply,  and  thus  meet  the  wants  of  hundreds  who  could 
not  be  accommodated  in  the  hall.  Mr.  Henry  McCoy  of  Bradford 
Springs  Hotel  had  charge  of  the  tables  in  the  hall,  and  under  his 
supervision  every  thing  was  conducted  in  the  most  systematic  and 
orderly  manner.  Mr.  Joseph  K.  Lund  was  Chairman  of  the  Basket 
Committee,  which  dispenced  good  tilings  to  the  multitude  in 
a  lavish  manner.  There  was  an  abundance  of  food,  enough  to 
feed  two  thousand,  and  the  committee  who  had  the  matter  in  charge 
reported  that  we  fed  over  fourteen  hundred  people  ;  many  others 
were  hospitably  entertained  by  private  citizens,  and  the  hotels  in 
the  town.  The  ham,  beef,  and  bread,  were  the  best  the  market 
afforded,  and  the  contributions  of  the  skillful  housewives  of  Brad- 
ford were  to  their  praise,  honor,  and  credit  forever. 

The  singing,  under  the  direction  of  PKOF.  EDSON  C.  PAGE,  was 
rendered  b}' a  choir  selected  for  the  occasion,  and  the  following 
selections  were  sung: —  - 

1st,  An  Anthem,  "Sing,  O  Heavens,  and  be  joyful,  O  Earth  :" 

2nd,  Centennial  Hymn,  written  by  John  G.    Whittier. 

3d,  "Hurrah  for  Old  New  England!" 

4th,  "Beautiful  Flag." 

5th,    A    Hymn  sung  by   all   to  the  tune  6f  "Auld  Lang  Syne." 

The  Bradford  Cornet  Band  aided  by  their  presence  and  excellent 
music. 

The  Committee  selected  as  President  of  the  Day.  CHARLES  F. 
DAVIS,  with  Vice  Presidents,  HORACE  K.  MARTIN  and  GEORGE  S. 
MORGAN. 

The  celebration  commenced  at  1  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Sep- 
tember 27th  1887  by  a  few  of  Bradford's  patriotic  citizens  Jed  by 
the  venerable  drum  corps,  accompanied  by  the  ringing  of  the 
church  bell  and  the  booming  of  cannon  in  the  village  of  Bradford. 

At  sunrise  the  regular  programme  of  ringing  the  church  bells 
was  in  order  and  duly  carried  into  effect.  The  day  was  thus  ush- 


8 

ered  in,  and  the  weather  was  mo>4  propitious,  and  remained  >o 
throughout  the  entire  day.  Public  business  was  suspended,  and 
the  people  turned  out  by  hundreds,  from  this  and  adjoining  towns, 
to  unite  in  celebrating  Bradford's  centennial. 

At  nine  o'clock  a  line  was  forrne<i  near  the  town  house,  MAHK 
W.  CHENEY,  Chief  Marshall,  and  Oi  HALL,  GEO.  T.  DTNFIELD,  and 
WILLIS  N.  BAILEY,  aids.  The  marshal  music  was  furnished  by  the 
Bradford  Cornet  Band  and  Drum  Corps  of  venerable  performers 
of  "ye  ancient  time."  Mr.  Bailey  Adams  played  the  tife,  Oilman 
Had  ley,  a  veteran  of  85  3rears,  riding  in  a  carriage,  beat  the  snare 
drum,  and  David  K.  Hawkes  the  bass  drum ;  the  average  age  of 
this  band  of  veteran  musicians  was  80  years.  Following  them  were 
the  battle  scarred  veterans  of  Robert  Campbell  Pose,  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  St.  Peters'  Lodge,  K.  &  A.  M.,  Massassecurn 
Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F. ,  and  a  large  number  of  citizens  in  carriages 
and  on  foot,  the  whole  marching  and  countermarching  through 
both  villages  to  the  Baptist  church  where  the  public  services  were 
to  be  held.  The  church  and  vestry  were  soon  filled  to  overflowing; 
even  the  aisles,  and  vestibule,  and  steps,  while  outside,  (the  win- 
dows being  open,)  the  outer  walls  of  the  building  were  thronged 
with  an  anxious  crowd,  eager  to  catch  the  droppings  from  within. 
Notwithstanding  all  this  a  great  number  were  unable  to  hear  the 
literary  exercises,  but  were  busy  talking  over  the  past  and  review- 
ing old  memories  of  childhood  and  later  years.  As  soon  as  the 
multitude  had  filled  the  church,  at  11  o'clock,  the  Chief  Marshal 
announced  CHARLES  F.  DAVIS  as  President  of  the  Day,  who,  after 
making  a  short  address  of  welcome  to  all,  called  upon  the  Rev. 
J.  H.  Gannett  to  invoke  the  divine  blessing.  After  scripture  read- 
ing by  Bev.  Nathaniel  Richardson,  and  singing  by  the  choir,  prayer 
was  offered  by  Rev.  Stephen  G.  Abbott  of  Swanzey,  N.  H.,  which 
was  followed  by  reading  of  the  town  charter  by  the  President,  (in 
the  absence  of  the  Town  Clerk,  Charles  H.  Morrill).  Then  after 
music  by  the  Band  came  historical  reading  by  MKS.  ANDREW  J. 
HASTINGS,  which  was  both  highly  interesting  and  instructive. 

HON.  BAINBRIDGE  WADLEIGH  of  Boston,  Mass.,  one  of  Bradford's 
honored  sons,  and  former  U.  S.  senator,  delivered  an  able  address, 
which  met  the  hearty  approval,  and  commanded  the  close  attention 
of  the  entire  assembty.  After  singing  by  the  choir  "The  Centen- 
nial Hymn,"  (by  Whittier,)  HON.  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS  BRACKETT 
of  Arlington,  Mass.,  another  of  Bradford's  honored  sons,  a  grad- 
uate of  Harvard  College,  and  Lieut.  Governor  of  Massachusetts, 


9 

delivered  an  admirable  address  which  was  listened  to  with  unabated 
interest.  Afler  another  piece  of  music  by  the  band  we  listened  to 
a  declamation  by  the  most  aged  man  in  town,  Mr.  Allen  Cressy, 
ninety  years  old,  "on  tbe  death  of  General  George  Washington." 
Mr  Cressy's  declamation  was  clearly  and  energetically  spoken, 
and  commanded  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  all  who  heard  him. 
It.  is  proper  to  state  here  that  Mr.  Cressy  had  four  children  born 
to  him:  Kev.  Azariah  Cressy  of  Suttou,  N.  H..  aged  sixty-six 
years;  Henry  A.  and  Daniel  K.  Cressy  of  Manchester.  N.  H.,  aged 
respectively  sixty-three  and  sixty-two  years ;  and  Maria,  wife  of 
William  ().  Heath  Ksq.  of  Bradford,  N.  H.,  aged  fifty-seven  years ; 
all  of  whom  were  living  and  attended  the  celebration,  and  whose 
aggregate  ages  was  two  hundred  fifty-one  years  and  four  months. 
Then  came  the  poem  which  was  written  by  Mrs.  Frank  Cressy 
of  Concord,  N.  H.,  a  daughter  of  the  late  Edmund  J.  Ring  of 
Bradford.  This  was  a  masterly  production  and  worthy  the  pen 
of  our  most  gifted  poets ;  we  doubt  if  it  is  ever  excelled  or  often 
equaled.  The  exercises  in  the  church  were  then  closed  by  the 
choir  singing  "Hurrah  for  Old  New  England!"  At  this  time —  1 
o'clock  P.  M. —  all  marched  to  the  town  hall  for  dinner,  and  for 
nearly  three  hours  the  committee  worked  industriously  in  distrib- 
uting provisions  to  the  multitude.  Over  one  thousand  pounds  of 
Bread,  a  quarter  of  a  ton  of  meat,  several  hundred  pies,  and  twenty 
bushels  of  cake,  supplemented  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  gallons  of 
tea,  coffee,  and  milk,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  gallons  of  pure 
water,  all  of  which  disappeared  like  dew  before  the  sun,  before 
the  keen  appetites  of  Bradford's  gathered  hosts,  and  yet  there  was 
food  for  more,  for  ample  provision  had  been  made  for  ALL,  but  it 
was  not  in  the  power  of  mortal  man  to  feed  them  at  one  sitting  in 
Bradford  town  hall.  At  three  o'clock  P.  M.  a  part  of  the  multitude 
returned  to  the  church  to  attend  the  FEAST  of  REASON  and  the  FLOW 
of  SOUL.  The  president  called  for  the  responses  to  the  sentiments  in 
their  regular  order ;  some  of  the  responses  and  letters  herein  given  it 
was  impossible  to  hear  for  lack  of  time.  At  half  past  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  the  exercises  of  the  centennial  celebration  of  Bradford 
came  to  an  end,  occupying  only  seven  and  a  half  hours.  The  ad- 
dresses by  the  orators  of  the  day,  and  the  other  speeches,  poem,  and 
statements,  aie  subjoined  entire.  The  programme  carried  out  on 
that  day,  six  hundred  copies  of  which  were  printed  and  distributed, 
is  also  reproduced.  The  author  of  the  hymn  is  the  Rev.  W.  R.  Cor- 
chran  of  Antrim,  N.  H.,  author  of  the  history  of  Antrim. 


10 


PROGRAMME. 

Ringiug   of    Bells  &c.  at   Sunrise. 

1.  Procession  with  band  formed  in  front  of  town  house  at  9  A.  M. 

2.  March  to  Gillis'  hotel,  thence  countermarch  to  Bradford  hotel, 
thence  countermarch  to  the  church  in  the  following  order : — 

Chief  Marshal  and  Aids,  Band,  Grand  Army.  Free  Masons,  Odd 
Fellows,  President  of  the  Day  and  Vice  Presidents,  Orators,  Poet, 
Speakers,  Town  Clerk,  Clergymen,  Choir,  Town  Officers.  Aged 
People,  Guests  and  Citizens  generally. 

3.  At  11  A.  M.  Chief  Marshal  announced  the  President  of  the  Day. 

4.  Address  of  Welcome,  by  the  President,  . . .  CHARLES  F.  DAVIS. 

5.  Invocation  of  Divine  Blessing, REV.  J.  H.  GANNETT. 

6.  Scripture  Reading, REV.  NATHANIEL  RICHARDSON. 

7      f  Singing,   anthem,  "Sing,  O  Heav-     )  r 

{      ens,  and   be   joyful,    O   Earth."   j  ' 
8.     Prayer, REV.  STEPHEN  G.  ABBOTT. 

q  <  Reading  town  charter,    (in  absence  of  >     rnART1,.  F  T^.™, 

9'  \     the  Town  Clerk  Charles  H.  Morrill,)    f 

10.  Historical  Reading, MRS.  ANDREW  J.  HASTINGS. 

11.  Music,    BAND. 

12.  Oration, HON.  BAINBIUDGE  WADLEIGH,  Boston,  Mass. 

13.  Singing,  Centennial  Hymn,  (John  G.  Whittier,) CHOIR. 

14.  Oration,  HON.  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS  BRACKETT,  Arlington, Mass. 

15.  Music, BAND. 

16.  Declamation, ALLEN  CRESSY,  Bradford. 

17.  Poem, MRS.  FRANK  CRESSY,  Concord,  N.  H. 

18.  Singing,  "Hurrah  for  Old  New  England  !" CHOIR. 

DINNER. 

Social   half   hour   enlivened  by  Music   by  the  Band. 
RESPONSES  TO   SENTIMENTS. 

1  (  Anglo  Saxon  Character, —  "Still  )     E.  WARREN  SMITH, 

'  (      Persistent  and  Unchanging."    J  Lawrence,  Mass. 

2.  The  Physicians  of  Bradford. 

3.  The  Past  of  Bradford  contrasted  with  the  Present,  DR.  HAWKS. 


n 

.    j  The  Clergy  of  Bradford, —  May  their  ef-  I  REV.  S.  G.  ABBOTT, 
|    forts  always  bring  peace  and  good  will,  )         Swanzey,  N.  H. 
,       (  The  Fathers  and  Moth-       >        EDWARD   A.    STUDLEY. 

\      ers    of    Bradford,  f  Boston,  Mass. 

6.  The  Schools  of  Bradford,  MAJ.  SAMUEL  DAVIS.  Warner,  N.   H. 

7.  The  Lawyers  of  Bradford,  HENKY  F.  BUSWELL,  Canton,  Mass. 

8.  Bradford  Fifty  Years  Ago,  MASON   B.    PRESBY,    Salem,    N.  H- 
q      (  The  Men  &  Women  who  laid  the  Foun-  >    w       .    p         v 

\      dation   for  the  Church  in  Bradford,  {  *R'  ^8Q* 

10.  State  of  Mass.,  Of  our  best  she  has  taken,  and  to-day 

our  hearts  are  made  glad  by  their  presence,  J.  W.  MORSE  Esq. 

1 1 .  Singing, CHOIR. 

12.  Historic  fetatement,  MRS.  MARY  AUGUSTA  LULL,  Milford,  N.  H. 

Grand-daughter  of  Gen.  Stephen  Hoyt.        ' 

13.  Hymn,   Auld  Lang  Syne,    CHOIR. 

14.  Closing  Words  by  the  President, CHARLES  F.  DAVIS. 

15.  Benediction. 


ADDRESS     OF     WELCOME. 

By  the  President   of  the   Day,   Charles   F.    Davis   Esq. 

Fellow  Citizens  of  Bradford,  Invited  Guests,  Ladies  and 
Gentlemen : — 

We  are  gathered  here  to-day  to  celebrate  the  praiseworthy  efforts 
of  our  ancestors  one  hundred  years  ago. 

Your  committee  have  sent  a  letter  of  invitation  to  each  and  every 
person,  who,  to  their  knowledge,  by  birth,  descent,  or  former  res- 
idence, has  the  right  to  unite  with  us  in  the  pleasures  of  this  cel- 
ebration. To  those  who  have  returned  to  participate  in  the  festiv- 
ities of  this  occasion  we  extend  a  most  cordial  welcome.  This  is 
the  day  that  our  most  honored  citizen,  the  late  Col.  Mason  W.  Tap- 
pan,  long  looked  forward  to,  and  hoped  to  enjoy  with  us.  During 
the  last  years  of  his  active  and  useful  life  he  often  alluded  to  the 
fact  of  our  approaching  centennial  as  a  town,  and  expressed  an 
earnest  wish  that  the  event  might  be  celebrated  in  an  appropriate 
manner,  and  urged  a  number  of  the  townsmen  not  to  let  the  oppor- 
tunity pass  without  bringing  the  subject  before  the  people.  Had 
his  life  been  spared  he  would  have  been  one  of  the  first  to  have 
welcomed  you  to-day,  and  would,  no  doubt,  have  given  utterance 


12 

to  patriotic  sentiments,  which  would  have  been  like  apples  of  gold 
iu  pictures  of  silver. — a  comfort  to  us  all. 

Glancing  for  a  moment  at  the  history  of  this  grand  old  town, 
we  find  that  it  was  incorporated  September  27th.  1787,  and  in- 
cluded a  part  of  Washington  and  Fishersfield.  Its  geographical 
situation  is  good,  forming  the  center  of  a  group  of  seven  towns.  The 
soil  is  fertile  ;  we  have  plenty  of  good  water  and  pure  air,  and  we 
are  blessed  with  beautiful  valleys  and  hills,  lakes  and  streams, 
good  highways,  and  delightful  scenery,  with  a  population  of  a- 
bout  one  thousand  souls.  This  miniature  republic  with  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-four  others  form  the  "-Old  Granite  State,"  and 
through  its  early  settlers  has  a  history  imperishable.  Her  sons  and 
daughters  have  established  a  name  and  a  fame,  both  in  war  arid 
peace,  in  agriculture,  commerce,  manufactures,  science,  and  in  the 
counsels  of  men  at  home  and  abroad,  that  reflects  credit  upon  them- 
selves, this  town,  and  the  true  worth  of  their  ancestry. 

To  our  ancestors  we  are  indebted  for  many  of  the  blessings 
we  now  enjoy  ;  their  sufferings  and  privations  NEVER  can  be  fully 
known :  they  are  mostly  the  incidents  of  an  unwritten  history.  In 
the  French  and  Indian  wars,  and  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution — I 
quote  what  has  been  said —  "For  nearly  two  centuries  from  the 
first  settlement  of  New  Hampshire,  her  entire  record  is  blotted  with 
tears  and  blood ;  no  pages  of  human  history  are  more  touching 
and  pathetic  than  the  French  wars,  the  Indian  wars,  and  the  Kn- 
glish  wars,  which  almost  crushed  the  life  out  of  the  people  of  the 
Granite  State." 

There  fell  upon  our  fathers  a  storm  of  woes  such  as  can  scarcely 
be  paralleled  in  history.  Indians  lay  in  wait  for  their  blood  ;  pro- 
prietors sought  to  rob  them  of  the  farms  they  had  cleared ;  mon- 
archs  usurped  their  government ;  pestilence  thinned  their  ranks ; 
famine  wasted  their  strength.  In  the  four  French  wars  the  people 
of  New  Hampshire  reached  the  very  acme  of  human  suffering,  —  in 
every  instance  without  notice,  and  in  defiance  of  treaties.  The 
savages  of  Canada  were  sent  down  the  valley  of  the  Connecticutt 
to  murder  the  defenceles  colonists.  They  were  sold  as  slaves  on 
the  frontier  of  Canada.  About  one  third  of  the  entire  population 
of  New  Hampshire  fell  by  Indian  barbarities  during  the  old  French 
and  Indian  wars. 

The  Revolutionary  War  would  have  been  a  failure  without  the 
troops  of  New  Hampshire.  A  majority  of  the  men  who  fought  at 
Bunker  Hill  were  from  the  Granite  State.  In  the  war  of  1812  New 


13 

Hampshire  furnished  her  full  proprtion  of  men  and  money  to  secure 
the  freedom  of  the  seas  and  the  rights  of  sailors  ;  and  finally  in  the 
great  civil  conflict  between  the  North  and  South,  this  town  fur- 
nished her  full  quota  of  men  to  keep  inseparable  our  galaxy  of 
states. 

This  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  a  part  of  the  record  of  Bradford. 
Some  of  its  citizens  were  in  all  of  the  wars  mentioned,  and  their 
services  thus  rendered  have  secured  to  us  most  of  the  blessings  we 
now  enjoy.  Our  ancestors  were  tried,  as  it  were  in  crucibles,  by 
fire.  Their  example  is  before  us  :  their  acts  were  noble  and  for 
a  purpose ;  may  we  emulate  their  example,  commemorate  their 
efforts  and  sacrifices,  by  this  celebration,  and  may  we  transmit 
unimpaired  the  blessings  we  now  enjoy  to  all  future  generations. 

And    now   for   the   committee,  and    in   the    name   of  the  town  of 
Bradford,  we  again  welcome   you  all  as   our  guests  and  friends. 


TOWN     CHARTER 

OF  BRADFORD,  NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 


STATE  OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

In    the   year  of  our  Lord  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-seven. 

An  act  to  incorporate  New  Bradford,  in  the  County  of  Hillsbo- 
rough,  and  Washington  Gore,  so  called,  and  part  of  Washington, 
in  the  County  of  Cheshire,  and  annex  the  same  to  the  County 
of  Hillsborough. 

Whereas  the  inhabitants  of  New  Bradford  in  the  County  of 
Hillsborough,  and  Washington  Gore,  so  called,  and  part  of  Wash- 
ington in  the  County  of  Cheshire,  have  petitioned  the  General  Court 
that  they  might  be  incorporated  and  invested  with  Town  privileges, 
and  belong  to  the  County  of  Hillsborough,  of  which  petition  and 
the  order  of  Court  thereon,  due  notice  hath  been  given,  and  no 
objection  being  made,  and  the  prayer  of  said  petition  appearing 
reasonable  : — 

Be  it  therefore  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives, in  General  Court  convened,  that  there  be  and  hereby  is  a 
Township  erected  and  incorporated  by  the  name  of  Bradford,  bound- 
ed as  follows,  viz. —  Beginning  at  a  beech  tree  on  Ilillsborough 
line,  thence  running  North  eighty-two  degrees  East  on  said  line  six 


14 

miles  and  eighty-four  rods  to  a  hemlock  tree,  thence  running  the 
same  point  to  the  North-west  corner  of  Warner,  thence  North 
seventeen  degrees  West  Ity  said  Warner  four  miles  and  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one  rods  to  the  South  line  of  Sutton,  thence  West- 
wardly  by  the  said  line  of  Sutton  to  the  East  line  of  Fishersfield, 
sixty  rods  from  the  South-west  corner  of  said  Sutton  to  a  white 
oak  tree,  marked,  being  the  North-west  corner  of  said  Washington 
Gore,  thence  North  seventy-eight  degrees  West,  three  miles  and 
three  hundred  and  ten  rods  to  a  small  beech  tree  marked,  standing 
on  the  line  of  Fishersfield,  thence  South  two  degrees  West,  two 
miles  and  one  hunded  and  fifty  rods  to  a  black  ash  tree  marked, 
thence  South  twenty  seven  degrees  East,  two  miles  and  one  hun- 
dred rods  to  the  bounds  first  mentioned.  And  the  inhabitants 
thereof  are  hereby  erected  into  a  body  politic  and  corporate,  to 
have  continuance  and  succession  forever,  and  are  hereby  invested 
with  all  the  powers,  and  enfranchised  with  all  the  rights,  privileges, 
and  immunities  which  any  town  in  this  State  holds  or  enjoys ;  To 
hold  the  said  inhabitants  and  their  successors  forever. —  And  Dea- 
con William  Presbury  is  hereby  authorized  to  call  a  meeting:  of 
said  inhabitants  to  choose  all  necessary  and  customary  Town  Offi- 
cers, giving  fourteen  days'  notice  of  the  time,  place,  and  design 
of  such  meeting ;  and  such  officers  shall  hereby  be  invested  with 
all  the  powers  of  the  officers  in  any  other  town  in  this  state,  and 
every  other  meeting  shall  be  annually  holden  in  said  Town  for  that 
purpose  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  March  annually  forever. 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  the  said  Township  so  erected 
shall  forever  hereafter  be  to  all  intents  and  purposes  esteemed  as 
part  and  parcel  of  the  said  County  of  Hillsborough  ;  provided  this 
act  shall  not  extend  to  the  effecting  any  taxes  already  assessed 
until  a  new  proportion  act  is  made ;  but  the  same  taxes  already 
assessed  shall  be  collected  until  said  proportion  act  shall  be  made, 
except  the  Town  taxes,  which  may  be  made  after  the  passing  this 
act  in  like  manner  as  the  same  would  have  been,  had  this  act 
not  been  passed,  any  law,  usage,  or  custom  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding. 

State  of  |    In  the  House  of  Representatives, 

New  Hampshire,    j  Sept.  27,  1787. 

The  foregoing  bill,  having  been  read  a  third  time,  voted  that  it 
pass  to  be  enacted. 

Sent  up  for  concurrence, 

Thos.  Bartlett,    Speaker  P.  T. 


15 


HISTORICAL     READING, 

By  Mrs.  A.   J.   Hastings. 

I  have  collected  a  few  interesting  facts  concerning  the  first 
family  who  settled  in  our  town. 

These  were  all  told  to  me  by  my  father,  and  corroborated  by 
many  other  aged  men  and  women  who  have  now  passed  away. 

Deacon  William  Presbury  was  a  stalwart  young  man  with  a  wife 
and  one  little  boy,  whose  name  was  George,  when  Col.  Bradford 
gave  him  all  the  land  that  he  could  encircle  in  a  day's  walk,  on 
condition  that  he  would  build  a  house  upon  it  and  live  in  it. 

This  was  in  the  autumn  ol  1770.  He  cleared  a  space  and  built 
a  rude  log  cabin  on  the  level  tract  of  land  which  is  now  the  farm 
of  Stephen  Morse.  He  moved  into  it  on  a  cold  day  of  the  follow- 
ing winter.  I  have  heard  my  father  say  that  his  father — the  little 
boy  whose  name  was  George —  was  brought  into  town  on  the  back 
of  a  man  who  traveled  on  snow-shoes.  Another  man  carried  a 
few  simple  articles  of  household  use.  William  Presbury  and  his 
orave  young  wife  bore  similar  burdens.  Mrs.  Presb'iry  was  a 
Miss  Dorcas  Whittemore  of  Pembroke,  New  Hampshire.  She  had 
left  a  home  of  comfort  and  comparative  wealth  to  make,  with  the 
husband  of  her  choice,, a  new  home  in  the  wilderness — for  Brad- 
ford was  then  a  great  forest,  filled  with  wild  beasts,  with  only 
the  acre  of  cleared  land  and  the  one  little  log  cabin. 

Deacon  William  Presbury  was  a  God  fearing  man,  and  we  are 
safe  in  saying  that  as  he  gathered  his  little  family  around  him  by 
the  great  open  fire  which  roared  up  the  rude  stone  chimney,  that 
he  knelt  and  asked  for  the  blessing  of  Him  who  settest  the  sol- 
itary in  families,  and  that  the  Founder  of  so  MANY  HOMES  might 
care  for  and  protect  this  new  one. 

Mistress  Dorcas  was  well  fitted  through  strength  of  mind  and 
physical  courage  to  be  the  wife  of  a  pioneer,  who,  being  absent 
on  hunting  expeditions,  was  often  obliged  to  leave  his  wife  and 
little  boy  alone,  sometimes  for  weeks.  She  worked  with  a  will 
and  energy  truly  wonderful ;  for  two  years  she  was  the  only  wo- 
man in  town,  and  what  would  to  MOST  women  have  been  a  SEVERE 
deprivation,  the  only  mirror  in  which  she  could  see  her  comely 
face  was  the  brook  which  rippled  past  her  cabin  door. 


Ifi 

One  night  Mistress  Presbury  heard  a  disturbance  with  her  hogs, 
and  upon  looking  out  could  dimly  see  a  black  creature  trying  to 
break  into  their  rude  pen.  She  at  once  determined  to  save  her 
hogs ;  so  catching  up  a  sharp  axe  she  stealthily  crept  up  behind 
the  creature,  [which  proved  to  be  a  great  black  bear,]  instantly 
letting  the  axe  fly  into  his  bearship's  head,  following  up  the  vig- 
orous blow  with  many  others,  she  finished  the  bear  and  saved  her 
pork. —  Yet  she  was  no  Amazon,  but  a  small  and  delicate  looking 
woman,  yet  strong  in  her  love  for  her  family, —  and  you  can  see 
that  she  was  worthy  to  be  the  first  woman  in  our  town. 

At  the  close  of  two  years  a  little  girl  was  born  to  this  adventur- 
ous young  couple.  To  this  little  Miss  they  gave  the  name  of 
Phebe.  She  lived  for  many  years ;  was  the  wife  of  Gen.  Stephen 
Hoyte,  a  man  of  note  in  his  day.  She  was  the  mother  of  seven 
sons  and  one  daughter.  Mr.  Elisha  Hoyte  of  Penacook,  N.  H., 
a  gentleman  of  seventy-five  years,  and  Mrs.  Olive  Hoyt  Hale  of 
Ripley,  a  lady  of  eighty,  are  the  only  living  children  of  Gen. 
Stephen  Hoyte  The  names  of  the  children  of  William  and  Dorcas 
Presbury  were  George,  Phebe,  Rachel,  Nathan,  Olive,  Hannah, 
and  one  other  daughter,  whose  name  we  have  forgotten. 

George,  the  eldest  son,  married  a  Miss  Lydia  Ward,  and  to  them 
were  given  a  family  of  six  daughters  and  five  sons,  of  which  my 
father  was  the  second  son. 

The  little  log  cabin  growing  too  small  for  this*  large  brood,  or 
rather,  the  family  outgrowing  the  cabin,  a  low,  comfortable  frame 
house  was  built  on  the  same  place  where  stands  and  is  now  part 
of  the  handsome  farm  house  of  Mr.  Stephen  Morse. 

Rachel  Presbury  married  a  Carter  of  Concord,  N.  H.,  where 
some  of  her  descendents  are  now  worthy  citizens.  Nathan,  the  sec- 
ond son  married  and  lived  on  a  portion  of  his  father's  land  which 
was  given  to  him  for  a  farm.  As  you  follow  the  road  up  over  the 
hill  from  the  "Mill  Village"  to  the  "Center,"  on  the  left  in  the 
Tappan  pasture  there  stood  since  my  remembrance  an  old  red 
house  and  a  barn,  the  remains  of  an  ancient  orchard  and  the 
ruins  of  an  old  cellar  are  all  that  is  left  of  the  home  that  once  WAS, 
but  is  NOT. 

The  third  daughter  of  Dea.  Presbury  was  Olive,  who,  when 
she  was  a  young  lady,  taught  school  in  her  father's  barn;  you  may 
wonder  where  her  pupils  came  from,  but  in  the  twenty  years  since 
the  first  family  came,  others  had  followed,  the  Browns,  Cresseys, 
Beaments,  and  others.  The  school  was  kept  in  Dea.  Presbury's 


17 

barn,  and  the  "barn  of  Mr.  l^aniel  Cfessy  was  used  on  Sundays 
for  a  church. 

Olive  Presbury  married  Dr.  Moses  Hoyt,  an  excellent  old  time 
physician  of  Tonbridge,  Vt. 

Hannah  Presbury  became  the  wife  of  John  Raymond  Esq.,  the 
founder  of  ihe  ''Raymond  House." 

Esquire  Raymond  was  a  prominent  man,  and  a  large  real  estate 
owner.  They  lived  in  a  pretty  old-fashioned  house  where  now 
stands  the  residence  of  J.  P.  Marshall.  When  Mr.  Marshall  built 
his  new  house,  he  moved  the  old  one  up  on  the  "Sutton  road>" 
fitted  it  up  and  sold  it  to  Mr.  J.  S.  Kitteridge. 

Mrs.  Hannah  Raymond,  like  her  mother,  Mrs.  Dorcas  Presbury<. 
was  a  delicate,  reh'ned  woman,  and  renowned  throughout  our  town 
as  being  a  model  housekeeper.  Her  cleanliness  was  proverbial; 
«ven  now  one  sometimes  hears  the  remark  made  of  a  very  particular 
woman,  "she  is  as  neat  as  old  Mrs.  Raymond."  To  the  last  this 
old  lady  retained  her  wonderful  neatness  and  love  of  order.  My 
mother  was  in  her  family  a  great  deal,  and  as  a  little  girl  of  four 
and  five  I  often  accompanied  her.  Those  visits  were  not  seasons  of 
unalloyed  pleasure,  on  account  of  my  at  once  being  seated  on  a  low 
chair  in  a  corner  and  sternly  admonished  by  my  good  mother  to 
keep  my  tongue  and  hands  still  under  punishment  of  instint  ban- 
ishment :  so  holding  fast  upon  my  tongue,  [and  an  unfortunate 
inaltese  kitten]  I  made  good  use  of  my  eyes  and  ears.  Most  vividly 
do  1  remember  the  nice  old-fashioned  rooms,  with  their  quaint 
furnishings  : —  The  table  with  its  spotless  linen,  beautiful  old  china, 
and  savory  food  Avas  ever  an  object  of  my  childish  adoration.  I 
particularly  remember  the  cheerful  open  fire,  the  bright  andirons, 
shovel  and  tongs.  I  was  also  greatly  interested  in  the  high  posted 
bedstead  with  its  curtains  of  bright  colored  chintz,  which  I  used 
sometimes  to  cautiously  open  and  take  a  peep  at  the  invalid  old  lady, 
so  fair  to  look  upon  in  her  dainty  lace  cap  and  white  dimity  gown. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Raymond  left  no  children.  Their  property  passed 
into  the  hands  of  a  nephew,  John  Raymond  Jr.,  a  lawyer  of  Troy, 
New  York,  who,  disregarding  the  request  of  his  uncle,  sold  the  prop- 
erty. Strangers  now  hold  it,  and  even  the  name  of  Raymond  will 
soon  be  forgotten. 

The  remains  of  the  first  orchard  ever  planted  in  town  is  the  one 
on  the  hill-side  back  of  Mr.  Morse's  house.  My  great  grandfather 
set  the  trees,  assisted  by  my  grandfather,  with  whom  be  lived  until 
his  death  in  1814,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years. 

8 


18 

The  path  of  those  old  pioneers  was  not  strewn  with  roses.  In 
these  days  of  comfort  and  ease  we  cannot  conceive  of  the  many 
hardships  they  were  called  upon  to  endure :  for  example, —  Dea. 
Presbury  was  obliged  to  carry  on  his  back  the  family  grist  to  the 
nearest  mill  at  Henniker,  a  distance  of  nine  miles,  and  his  only 
guide  was  spotted  trees.  For  two  years  their  neai-est  neighbor 
was  Mr.  Israel  Merrill,  who  lived  over  in  Warner  on  the  place 
lately  owned  by  Mr.  J.  S.  Kitteridge.  Once  when  Mrs.  Presbury 
was  very  ill  her  husband  summoned  the  good  Mrs.  Morrill  by  a 
gun  fired  from  the  top  of  Goodwin  Hill,  a  signal  that  had  been 
previously  agreed  upon. 

On  the  old  "Burying  Hill,"  near  Mr.  Morse's,  sleep  Dea.  William 
Presbury  and  Dorcas,  his  wife.  The  tombstone  will  tell  you 
that  she  was  the  first  and  for  two  years  the  only  female  in  town, 
that  she  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-six  years.  Near  them 
rests  their  beloved  son,  George,  and  Lydia,  his  wife.  All  around 
them  are  their  children,  grandchildren,  neighbors  and  friends.  Be- 
side them  forever  whisper  the  pines  ;  at  their  feet  nestles  the  home 
they  loved ;  across  the  meadow  on  which  they  toiled  the  stately  elms 
nod  their  heads,  and  the  peaceful  river  winds  its  way. 


ADDRESS. 

By   Hon.   Bainbridge  Wadleigh. 


FELLOW    CITIZENS: 

To-day  the  town  of  Bradford  begins  the 

second  century  of  her  history.  We  are  here  to  celebrate  the  day  of 
her  birth.  We  are  here  to  keep  green  the  memory  of  her  found- 
ers, as  we  would  wish  our  own  preserved  by  those  who  may  fill 
our  places  a  hundred  years  hence.  Those  of  us  who  first  saw  the 
light  among  these  hills,  but  whose  lives  have  been  mainly  spent 
elsewhere,  come  here  now  as  to  the  lap  of  a  mother. 

The  past  unrolls  like  a  scroll  to  our  memories.  Here  we  meet 
again  (perhaps  for  the  last  time)  a  few  companions  of  our  youth 
whom  the  scythe  of  Time  has  spared,  and  our  hearts  bow  in  sad- 
ness as  we  think  of  the  many  who  have  passed  beyond  mortal  eyes 
forever.  Here  are  the  ponds  and  brooks  where  we  fished,  swam, 
and  skated — the  hills  down  which  we  coasted —  the  rocky  fields 
from  which  our  youthful  hands  helped  to  wring  reluctant  harvests — 
the  woods  where  we  hunted  game  and  gathered  beechnuts  in  the 
bright  sunshine  of  the  short  autumn  days —  the  maple  orchards 
where  we  ate  the  fresh,  ungraiued  sugar  from  chunks  of  glittering 
ice  in  early  spring —  the  gnarled  tree  among  the  rocks,  whose  sap 
of  famed  sweetness,  drank  from  the  cold  tin  pail  into  which  it  had 
dripped,  seemed  more  delicious  than  the  nectar  of  the  Olympian 
gods —  the  plain  temples  of  worship  whose  humble  spires  pointed 
us  to  heaven,  and  the  eternal  mountains  whose  shaggy  forests  we 
explored  for  wild  honey  and  spruce  gum,  and  whose  hollow  roaring 
in  the  cloudless  nights  of  winter  seemed  like  the  moaning  of  the 
restless  and  wide-resounding  sea. 

We  miss  the  rude  and  uncomfortable  school-houses  where  by  the 
aid  of  the  ferule  we  slowly  and  painfully  climbed  the  first  slopes  of 
the  hill  of  science,  and  where  when  fortune  smiled,  we  sat  at 
spelling-schools  beside  the  bright-eyed  girls  we  loved  best.  They 
have  been  superseded  by  structures  more  convenient  and  more  in 
accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  but  which  to  us,  whose  heads  are 
silvered  by  Time,  lack  the  sweet  and  subtle  charm  of  association. 

A  hundred  years  in   the   life   of   a  municipality   may  seem  but  a 


ID 

short  step  in  a  long  journey.  Yet  throe  such  steps  carry  rrs  bacfc 
to  a  time  when,  save  a  few  Spaniards  in  Florida,  no  white  nnm's. 
foot  pressed  our  country's  soil?—  four,  to  a  time  when  this  whole 
continent  seemed  hidden  in  everlasting  darkness, —  seven,  beyond1 
the  birth  of  the  oldest,,  existing  political  institution  in  Europe — 
nineteen  beyond  the  birth  of  Christ —  and  sixty,  to  a  period  when, 
until  recently,  the  material  universe  was  supposed  to  have  been 
created.  When  we  reflect  what  a  short  space  in  the  past  is  illu- 
mined by  even  the  faintest  rays  from  the  lamp  of  history,  a  century 
seems  no  inconsiderable  time. 

Yet  compared  with  some  other  New  England  towns,  -this-  of  ours- 
seems  youthful.  Portsmouth  and  Dover  in  this  state,  and  the  city 
of  Boston,  were  first  settled  in  1623.  Several  other  towns  not  far 
distant  have  celebrated  the  2oOth  anniversary  of  their  birth,  and! 
nearly  two  hundred  and  sixty-seven  years  have  passed  since  the 
Pilgrims  set  foot  on  Plymouth  Rock. 

For  more  than  a  eentury  after  Portsmouth,  Dover,  and  Exeter 
were  founded,  the  settlement  of  New  Hampshire  went  on  at  a  snail's 
pace,  and  nearly  her  whole  white  population  was  in  those  three 
towns  and  two  or  three  others  on  her  southern  border.  There 
were  two  causes  for  this  long  lethargy.  The  first  was  the  long 
controversy  over  the  title  to  the  soil  of  New  Hampshire,  and  the 
second,  the  perils  of  Indian  warfare. 

At  the  risk  of  being  thought  tedious,  I  will  tell  you  briefly,  who 
claimed  the  soil  of  this  province,  what  were  the  grounds  of  the 
respective  claims,  and  how  the  dispute  ended. 

The  first  claim  referred  to  was  that  of  John  Mason,  and  those 
who  claimed  under  him.  The  second  was  that  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Bay  Company.  These  claims  were  based  on  royal  grants. 
The  third  and  most  equitable  claim,  was  that  of  the  hardy  pioneers 
who  hewed  out  of  the  dense  forests,  homes  for  themselves  and  their 
descendants.  Their  claim  was  based  on  adverse  possession  under 
a  claim  of  right,  which  after  a  certain  length  of  time,  by  the  com- 
mon law  of  England  gives  a  good  title.  This  just  claim  of  the 
settlers  was  supported  by  the  pretended  Indian  deed  to  Rev.  John 
Wheelwright,  which  was  an  ingenious  forgery. 

North  America,  from  Florida  to  Greenland,  and  from  the  At- 
lantic to  the  Pacific,  was  claimed  by  the  British  Crown  on  the 
ground  that  British  subjects  had  discovered  and  taken  possession 
of  it.  In  1606  King  James  I.,  a  cowardly  and  tyranical  pedant, 
who  won  and  deserved  the  reputation  of  being  "the  wisest  fool 


21 

in  Europe,"  issued  a  patent  locating  the  Province  of  Virginia  be- 
tween the  34th  and  44th  degrees  of  north  latitude,  including  more 
than  half  the  Scate  of  North  Carolina,  extending  northward  to  the 
present  town  of  Haverhill  in  this  State,  and  stretching  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 

In  the  same  year  Kiog  James  made  two  grants —  one  of  North 
Virginia  to  certain  Englishmen  in  Bristol,  Exeter,  and  Plymouth, 
(England)  and  the  other  of  South  Virginia  to  others  in  the  city 
of  London.  By  some  unaccountable  blunder,  these  two  grants 
overlapped  each  other  three  degrees,  so  that  all  the  land  between 
the  mouth  of  the  Potomac  Kiver  and  the  southern  shore  of  the 
State  of  Connecticut  was  included  in  both.  On  that  account  the 
grantees  of  North  Virginia  applied  for  the  confirmation  and  enlarge- 
ment of  their  grant.  King  James  therefore  in  1620  granted  all 
North  America  lying  between  the  40th  and  48th  parallels  of  lat- 
itude, and  extending  from  the  State  of  Delaware  to  the  northern 
border  of  New  Brunswick,  or  a  point  about  80  miles  no  th  of 
Quebec,  to  40  English  noblemen,  knights,  and  gentlemen,  whom 
he  incorporated  as  "The  council  established  at  Plymouth  in  the 
County  of  Devon  for  the  ruling,  and  governing  of  New  England 
in  America."  This  grant  was  the  foundation  of  both  Mason's  title 
and  that  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Company. 

John  Mason  was  an  opulent  merchant  of  London,  who  had 
been  the  royal  governor  of  Newfoundland,  and  who  was  one  of 
the  members  of  the  Council  of  Plymouth,  and  its  secretary.  He 
was  enterprising,  pertinacious  and  enthusiastically  interested  in  the 
colonization  of  America.  The  Council  of  Plymouth  gave  him  in 
all  four  grants.  The  first  was  made  in  1621.  It  commenced  at 
the  mouth  of  the  river  of  Naumkeag,  (now  Salem)  thence  it  ran 
to  the  mouth  of  Merrimack  River,  (including  all  the  islands  within 
three  miles  of  the  sea-shore)  thence  up  the  Merrimack  River  to 
the  head  thereof :  thence  in  a  straight  line  to  the  head  of  the  river 
of  Naumkeag.  This  grant  embodied  two  egregious  blunders.  One 
related  to  the  length  of  the  river  of  Naumkeag,  the  other  to  the 
course  of  the  Merrimack.  At  that  time  the  English  navigators 
had  only  sailed  along  the  coast  and  knew  nothing  of  the  interior  of 
the  country.  They  supposed  that  the  narrow  arm  of  the  sea  at 
Salem,  into  which  empties  only  a  petty  rivulet,  was  a  large  river 
extending  far  inland  and  flowing  from  west  to  east.  The  western 
boundary  of  this  grant  was  an  impossible  one,  for  it  would  leave 
nearly  the  whole  course  of  the  Merrimack  on  the  outside  of  it.  In 


ft 

other  words,  the  eastern  was  located  west  of  the  western  boundary. 

In  1(522  the  Council  of  Plymouth  granted  to  Mason  and  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges  jointly,  all  the  land  between  the  Merrimack  and  Sag- 
adahoc  (now  Kennebec)  Kivers,  extending  back  to  the  great  lakes 
and  river  of  Canada.  About  1629  Mason  and  Gorges  are  supposed 
to  have  divided  the  land  included  in  their  grant  of  1622,  Gorges 
taking  all  west  of  Piscataqua  River,  that  is  the  Province  of  Maine, 
which  his  heirs  in  1677  sold  to  Massachusetts.  It  is  believed  also 
that  Mason  for  some  unknown  reason  surrendered  to  the  Council 
of  Plymouth  the  title  acquired  by  him  under  the  grant  of  1622  to 
any  lands  west  of  Piscataqua  River.  It  is  certain  that  he  did  not 
rely  upon  that  grant  in  any  of  the  subsequent  controversies,  nor 
introduce  it  as  evidence  to  prove  his  title  in  the  trial  of  his  suits 
at  law.  On  the  7th  of  November  1629  he  received  another  grant 
from  the  "Council,  commencing  in  the  middle  of  Piscataqua  River 
and  up  the  same  to  the  farthest  head  thereof,  and  from  thence 
northwestward  until  sixty  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  harbor  were 
finished ;  also  through  Merrimack  River  to  the  farthest  head  thereof, 
and  so  forward  up  into  land  westward  until  sixty  miles  were  fin- 
ished, and  from  thence  to  cross  over  land  to  the  end  of  the  sixty 
miles  accounted  from  Piscataqua  River  together  with  all  the 
islands  within  five  leagues  of  the  coast." 

In  1635  the  council  made  another  grant  to  Mason  confirming  the 
grants  of  1621  and  1629,  thus  giving  him  the  land  between  the 
Naumkeag  and  Piscataqua  Rivers.  Mason's  claim  to  New  Hamp- 
shire finally  rested,  however,  on  the  grant  of  1629. 

We  come  now  to  the  claim  of  Massachusetts.  On  the  third  of 
March  1628  the  Council  of  Plymouth  made  a  grant  to  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  Company  which  was  confirmed  by  King  Charles  II. 
by  a  patent  dated  March  4th,  1629.  That  grant  bounded  the 
lands  of  Massachusetts  on  the  north  by  "a  line  three  miles  to  the 
northward  of  Merrimack  River  or  to  the  northward  of  any  and 
every  part  thereof"  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  All  these 
grants  erroneously  assume  that  Merrimack  River  flows  from  west 
to  east,  and  some  that  the  distance  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
is  a  mere  trifle. 

John  Mason  died  soon  after  the  grant  of  1635,  and  his  claim  to 
New  Hampshire  passed  by  will  to  his  grandson  Robert  Tuftoh,  who 
took  the  surname  of  Mason,  and  who  did  not  become  of  age 
till  1650. 

The  claim  of  Massachusetts  was   so   earnestly   pressed   and   the 


23 

advantages  of  a  union  of  the  two  provinces  were  so  obvious,  that 
in  April  1641,  when  the  attention  of  the  English  govern  inent  was 
distracted  by  the  opening  scenes  of  the  great  revolution  which  sent 
the  King  to  the  scaffold,  the  New  Hampshire  towns  yielded  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts.  That  union  lasted  till  1(580.  While 
it  existed  it  was  useless  to  press  the  Mason  claim,  and  the  heirs 
lost  all  hope  of  success  unless  it  came  through  the  interposition 
of  the  English  government. 

In  1653  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  established  the 
northern  boundary  of  that  Province  three  miles  north  of  the  outlet 
of  Winnipiseogee  Lake.  Upon  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts  to 
the  British  throne,  Robert  Mason  in  1  660,  petitioned  King  Charles 
II.  for  redress.  The  King  referred  the  petition  to  his  attorney 
general,  who  reported  that  Mason  had  a  good  title  to  the  Province 
of  New  Hampshire.  From  that  time  all  the  influence  of  the  crown 
was  exerted  to  promote  the  claims  of  Mason  against  Massachusetts 
and  the  settlers.  A  royal  commission  was  sent  to  New  England  in 
1662,  which  warmly  supported  the  Mason  claim.  There  being  no 
hope  for  the  Mason  claim  in  the  courts  so  long  as  New  Hampshire 
and  Massachusetts  were  united,  they  were  separated  in  1680,  and  a 
government  for  New  Hampshire  established  by  a  royal  decree —  ev- 
ery member  of  which  was  interested  in  the  claim.  Suits  at  law  were 
brought  against  the  settlers  and  executions  obtained  against  them 
in  1685,  but  the  people  resisted  the  officers,  who  could  not  enforce 
them.  Warrants  for  the  rioters  having  been  procured,  the  officers 
attempted  at  Dover  to  arrest  them  while  they  were  attending  divine 
service.  The  congregation  rose —  one  strapping  damsel  with  her 
large  bible  knocked  down  one  of  the  officers,  and  they  were  so 
roughly  handled  that  they  were  glad  to  escape  with  their  lives. 
Fifteen  years  later,  about  1700,  a  suit  at  law  against  Maj.  Waldron 
was  brought  by  Samuel  Allen,  who  claimed  Mason's  title  under  a 
deed  from  his  heirs,  but  the  records  of  the  former  judgments  hav- 
ing been  destroyed,  Allen  was  beaten.  He  appealed  to  Queen 
Anne,  but  the  royal  council  affirmed  the  judgment  against  Allen — 
giving  him  leave,  however,  to  begin  a  new  suit.  Allen  having  died 
in  1705,  his  son  Thomas  Allen  brought  a  new  suit  against  Waldron, 
which  was  tried  in  1706.  In  that  trial  Waldron  relied  upon  his 
adverse  possession  under  a  claim  of  title,  and  the  only  evidence  of 
any  claim  of  title  by  him  was  the  forged  deed  to  Rev.  John  Wheel- 
wright, from  four  Indian  sachems.  The  jury  found  for  Maj.  Wal- 
dron as  before,  and  an  appeal  was  taken  by  Allen,  but  a  decision 


24 

being  withheld,  and  Allen  dying  in  1715,   his   heirs  did   not  prose- 
cute  the    appeal. 

After  Thomas  Allen's  death  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts 
granted  numerous  townships  in  southern  New  Hampshire  and  along 
the  fertile  meadows  of  Connecticut  River.  Among  them  was  one 
line  of  townships  to  defend  the  western  border  against  the  Indians, 
which  covered  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Connecticut  from  the  present 
north  line  of  Massachusetts  to  Claremont. 

In  1735  and  1736  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  granted  for 
the  same  object  a  double  line  of  towns  extending  from  Pennacook 
(now  Concord)  on  the  Merrimack,  to  Charlestown  (which  was  No.  4 
in  the  western  line  of  towns)  on  the  Connecticut.  The  townships 
thus  granted  were  No.  1  including  Warner ;  No.  2  including  Brad- 
ford ;  No.  3  including  the  northerly  part  of  Washington  and  part 
of  Lempster ;  No.  4  including  the  remaining  land  between  No.  3 
and  Charlestown  ;  No.  5  including  Hopkinton  ;  No.  G  including  Hen- 
niker ;  No.  7  including  Hillsborough,  and  No.  8  including  part  of 
Washington  and  part  of  Stoddard.  Efforts  were  made  in  vain  to 
settle  these  grants  and  so  far  as  can  be  learned  from  the  records, 
Bradford  was  not  settled  until  1771,  about  36  years  afterwards. 

In  1737  commissioners  to  establish  the  line  between  Massachu- 
setts and  New  Hampshire  were  appointed  by  royal  authority.  Their 
report  was  evasive  and  both  provinces  appealed  from  it  to  King 
George  II.  In  1 740  he  made  his  decision  and  gave  to  New  Hamp- 
shire more  land  than  she  had  claimed,  fixing  the  line  of  division 
substantially  as  it  now  exists.  That  was  the  end  of  the  long 
controversy  between  the  two  provinces  growing  out  of  the  contra- 
dictory royal  grants.  By  this  decision  the  grant  of  township  No.  2 
which  included  the  territory  of  this  town  was  annulled. 

On  account  of  a  flaw  in  Allen's  title,  the  title  of  Robert  Mason 
passed  to  his  grandson  John  Tufton  Mason,  who  on  the  30th  of 
January  1746,  conveyed  his  whole  interest  in  15  shares  to  12  per- 
sons who  were  afterwards  known  as  "the  Masonian  proprietors," 
for  1500  pounds  currency.  All  these  purchasers  except  one 
were  citizens  of  New  Hampshire  and  men  of  great  influence  both 
in  the  colon}7  and  England.  To  allay  popular  indignation  they 
quitclaimed  their  land  in  all  the  towns  that  had  been  granted  by 
New  Hampshire  and  settled  —  of  which  there  were  seventeen. 
They  quieted  the  settlers  on  the  Massachusetts  grants  by  the  most 
generous  and  satisfactory  compromises.  As  soon  as  they  received 
their  first  deed  from  Mason,  they  commenced  granting  townships 


25 

to  petitioners.  The  grantees  were,  within  a  limited  time,  to  erect 
mills  and  meeting-houses,  clear  out  roads,  and  settle  ministers. 
In  evrej'  township  was  reserved  one  right  for  the  first  settled 
minister,  another  for  a  parsonage,  and  a  third  for  a  school.  The 
proprietors  also  reserved  15  rights  for  themselves  and  two  for  their 
attorneys  in  each  town —  all  which  were  to  be  free  from  taxes  until 
sold  or  occupied.  These  rights  varied  in  size  in  different  towns. 
By  such  a  policy  the  interests  of  the  people  soon  became  united 
with  those  of  the  proprietors,  and  in  1787  the  General  Court  passed 
an  act  which  settled  the  controversy  satisfactorily  and  forever. 

As  I  have  said,  the  Indian  wars  were  another  cause  for  the 
long  delay  in  settling  our  state.  They  began  in  1675  and  ended  in 
1760.  During  that  85  years  the  frontier  of  civilization  in  New 
Hampshire  scarcely  passed  beyond  a  line  drawn  east  and  west 
through  the  northern  border  of  th«  old  township  of  Dunstable,  and 
south  of  Mouadnoc  Mountain.  During  that  whole  time  terror 
brooded  unceasingly  over  the  lonely  homes  of  the  pioneers.  War- 
parties  of  cunning,  cruel  savages  swooped  upon  them  from  the  dark 
forests  like  beasts  of  prey.  Torture,  death  and  captivity  constantly 
stared  them  in  the  face,  and  none  could  tell  when  the  storm  would 
burst.  The  frontiersman  kept  his  trusty  musket  always  loaded  and 
at  his  side.  He  bore  it  even  to  church,  and  the  old  custom  which 
gives  the  head  of  the  pew  to  the  grown  males  of  the  household, 
is  a  relic  of  those  many  anxious  years  when  the  Indian  war-whoop 
might  at  any  moment  summon  the  worshipers  to  battle.  Such  was 
the  hard  school  in  which  were  trained  the  men  who,  so  long  as  their 
amunition  lasted,  repulsed  the  best  troops  of  England  at  Bunker 
Hill.  In  1760  the  victory  of  Wolfe  and  the  capture  of  Quebec  gave 
Canada  to  Great  Britain —  the  long  struggle  between  England  and 
France  for  dominion  over  the  New  World  was  ended —  the  lilies  of 
France  gave  place  to  the  cross  of  St.  George,  and  the  Indian  tribes, 
deprived  of  French  support,  sullenly  but  forever  yielded  to  the 
ascendency  of  the  pale-faces  who  spoke  the  tongue  of  England. 

With  the  return  of  peace  civilization  rose  from  its  long  lethargy 
and  resumed  its  onward  march.  In  1765  the  Masonian  propri- 
etors made  a  grant  to  John  Peirce  and  George  Jaffrey  which  cov- 
ered the  central  and  larger  part  of  this  town.  George  Jaffrey  was 
a  resident  of  Portsmouth —  one  of  the  original  Masonian  proprie- 
tors, and  a  very  influential  man.  He  was  a  brother-in-law  of  the 
royal  Governor  Benning  Wentworth,  president  of  the  council, 
treasurer,  chief-justice  and  justice  of  the  admiralty.  In  his  honor 


26 

the  town  of  Jaffrey  was  named.  John  Peirce  was  a  relative  of 
Joshua  Peirce,  who  was  another  of  the  original  Masonian  proprie- 
tors. Both  John  Peirce  and  Jaffrey  were  active  in  promoting  the 
settlement  of  the  province,  and  Peirce' s  descendants  were  until 
recently,  and  are  probably  now,  owners  of  extensive  tracts  of  wild 
land  upon  the  Sunapee  Mountains. 

The  date  of  the  first  actual  settlement  of  Bradford  is  not  entirely 
beyond  doubt.  There  is  a  tradition  that  Isaac  Davis-  settled  near 
Bradford  Pond  at  some  time  before  1767.  and  his  descendants, 
who  are  some  of  our  most  respectable  and  intelligent  citizens,  be- 
lieve a  son  was  born  to  him  here  some  years  before  the  arrival  of 
any  other  settler.  As  Henniker  had  338  inhabitants  in  1773,  it  is 
not  improbable  that  Davis  settled  so  near  her  border  before  1771* 
It  is  true  that  History  makes  no  mention  of  Davis'  settlement,  but 
experience  teaches  us  that  history,  if  not  a  notorious  liar,  (as  a  dis- 
tinguished satirist  has  said,)  is  extremely  liable  to  make  mistakes 
and  cannot  always  be  relied  on,  even  in  respect  to  recent  events. 

There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  in  1771  Dea.  William  Presbury 
came  from  Henniker  and  settled  in  this  town.  He  purchased  land 
from  Jaffrey  and  Peirce,  cleared  it,  died  here,  and  his  descendants 
live  here  to  this  day. 

In  1774  several  families  from  Bradford,  Mass,  settled  here  and 
gave  the  name  of  New-Bradford  to  their  new  home.  From  1771 
to  1775  this  part  of  the  state  was  being  rapidly  settled  up.  But 
the  Revolutionary  War  broke  out  April  19th,  1775,  and  the  active, 
vigorous  men  of  the  colonies  were  fighting  for  national  independ- 
ence until  Oct.  19th,  1781,  when  the  contest  was  virtually  ended 
by  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  ^at  Yorktown.  That  desperate 
struggle  of  six  and  one-half  years  absorbed  the  energies  of  the 
colonists,  but  when  it  was  over,  they  once  more  turned  to  the  con- 
quest of  the  wilderness. 

When  this  town  was  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  General  Court 
in  1787,  it  included  not  only  New-Bradford,  but  also  a  strip  of 
land  not  included  in  any  survey  and  known  as  "Washington  Gore" 
and  a  part  of  Washington  which  the  citizens  of  that  town  voted 
to  surrender.  In  1788  Ebenezer  Eaton  and  Enoch  Hoyt,  selectmen, 
petitioned  the  General  Court  for  leave  to  tax  all  land  in  Bradford 
a  penny  per  acre,  "the  inhabitants  being  few  in  number  and  the 
roads  extremely  bad."  In  1789  upon  the  petition  of  the  selectmen 
and  others,  Ebenezer  Eaton  was  appointed  to  the  honorable  office 
of  justice  of  the  peace.  In  1796  by  an  act  of  the  General  Court, 


27 

the  town  line  was  straightened  so  as  to  include  a  part  of  Fishers- 
field —  now  Newbury.  In  1796  the  first  meeting-house  in  this  town 
was  built.  As  towns  were  then  religious  parishes,  the  building  was 
built  by  and  belonged  to  the  town,  and  was  used  not  only  for  di- 
vine worship,  but  for  town  meetings  and  other  gatherings  of  the 
people.  It  was  one  of  those  old-fashioned  wooden  structures,  now 
rarely  found  unchanged,  with  a  high  box-pulpit  and  a  huge  pine 
"sounding-board"  over  it  on  one  side —  a  double  door  on  the  other 
side —  a  porch  and  door  at  each  end —  large  square  pews  with  high 
railings  and  hinged  seats  all  around  the  inside  of  them,  except  where 
a  lofty  door  opened  into  the  aisle —  wide  galleries  with  pews  and 
the  usual  seats  for  the  deacons.  The  minister's  salary  was  paid 
by  a  town  tax,  and  of  course  this  community,  like  nearly  all  others 
in  New  England,  was  cursed  by  quarrels  whi<-h  sprung  from  the 
efforts  of  Baptists  and  other  dissenters  to  escape  taxes  for  the  sup- 
port of  a  creed  which  they  disbelieved.  At  least  one  clergyman 
of  what  was  known  as  "the  standing  order"  left  in  disgust  at  the 
non-payment  of  his  salary.  Finally  by  an  act  of  the  General  Court 
the  support  of  religion  was  made  to  depend  on  voluntary  contribu- 
tions, since  which  hostility  between  different  religious  denomina- 
tions has  much  abated.  I  well  remember  that  in  my  bo3Thood  most 
of  the  people  at  the  "Mills"  and  "Corner"  where  Baptists  predom- 
inated, were  inclined  to  look  upon  the  "standing  order"  as  an 
arrogant  aristocracy  who  closely  resembled  the  Pharisees  of  the 
New  Testament. 

Though  written  creeds  may  not  change,  the  vitality  of  religious 
belief  slowly  yields  to  the  influence  of  time  and  the  spirit  of  the 
age.  The  earliest  sermons  that  I  heard  in  my  boyhood  depicted 
at  great  length,  with  much  minuteness  and  in  lurid  colors,  the 
never-dying  flames,  the  suffocating  stench,  and  the  unimaginable 
horrors  of  a  hell  to  which  every  human  soul  had  been  condemned, 
or  from  which  it  had  been  absolved  before  the  creation  of  the 
world —  so  that  for  the  elect  there  could  be  no  fear,  and  for  the 
non-elect  no  hope.  The  last  half  century  has,  in  New  England, 
wonderfully  diminished  the  zeal  with  which  such  sermons  are 
preached  from  the  pulpit  or  believed  in  the  pews.  The  love  of 
God  for  his  children  is  now  a  more  attractive  subject  than  His 
anger. 

In  1838,  after  the  establishment  of  the  voluntary  system,  the 
Congregationalists  built  a  new  church  at  the  Centre  Village  and 
abandoned  the  old  meeting-house  to  the  town.  A  few  years  ago 


28 

it  was  removed  to  its  present  location  and  divided  into  two 
stories —  so  that  it  contains  a  school  room  and  a  town  hall. 

The  building  of  the  Calvinistic  Baptist  meeting-house  was  begun 
in  1829  and  completed  in  1830.  Then  a  dense  forest  surrounded 
it.  About  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  it  had  become  ruinous  and 
was  repaired  and  remodeled  under  the  ministry  of  Rev.  S.  G. 
Abbott.  It  is  only  just  to  say  that,  however  much  the  Congrega- 
tional and  Baptist  churches  of  fifty  years  ago  might  differ,  both 
exercised  a  good  influence  on  this  communit}-,  and  they  were 
"ministered  unto"  by  pastors  of  virtuous  lives  and  exemplary 
habits,  who  expounded  the  doctrine  of  their  respective  denomina- 
tions with  zeal  and  fidelity. 

Besides  the  churches  that  I  have  named  there  was  a  Free-will 
Baptist  meeting-house  at  the  south  part  of  the  town  in  which 
Elder  Holmes  preached  for  many  years.  That  was,  I  think, 
known  as  the  "bush"  meeting-house.  On  the  bill  near  Bradford 
Pond  was  another  small  meeting-house  dedicated  to  the  use  of 
no  particular  denomination,  but  used  for  preaching  of  all  kinds. 

There  were  a  few  Methodists  in  town,  to  whom  Elder  Steele 
sometimes  preached.  At  one  time  there  were  here  a  considerable 
number  of  Campbellites,  generally  called  CHRISTIANS.  I  am  not 
aware  that  they  ever  had  any  pastor  except  Elder  Morrison  and 
Elder  John  Gillingham.  The  sermons  of  the  latter  though  not 
learned,  logical,  nor  instructive,  were  so  full  of  emotion  and  eccen- 
tric eloquence  that  they  charmed  most  of  his  hearers.  They  occu- 
pied for  several  years  a  chapel  over  the  school  room  in  the  Mill 
Village. 

Half  of  a  century  ago  there  was  a  much  stronger  military  spirit 
in  this  town  than  there  is  now.  Whatever  national  hatred  then 
existed  here  was  against  England  alone.  Every  able-bodied  man 
between  the  ages  of  17  and  41,  was  (with  very  few  exceptions) 
liable  to  military  duty.  They  met  for  drill  at  least  twice  a  year, 
besides  attending  the  regimental  muster  in  the  fall.  There  were 
two  companies  of  infantry  and  a  company  of  artillery,  I  think,  in 
this  town,  and  part  of  a  troop  of  cavalry.  The  Bradford  Rifle  Com- 
pany was  my  boyish  BEAU-IDEAL  of  a  military  force,  and  I  vehe- 
mently suspected  every  man  in  it  to  be  a  hero.  Every  military 
company  chose  its  own  uniform.  Our  rifle  company  paraded  in 
black  frock  coats  and  pantaloons,  with  black,  flexible,  leather  hats, 
each  adorned  by  several  good  sized  black  ostrich  feathers.  They 
were  accompanied  by  "pioneers,"  part  of  whom  carried  long  lances, 


29 

and  the  rest  battle-axes  of  an  ancient  fashion.  The  "pioneers" 
marched  in  the  van,  uniformed  in  long  tunics —  some  scarlet,  some 
crimson.  The  other  company  of  infantry  were  of  the  "slambang" 
type  without  uniforms,  though  the  captain,  lieutenant,  and  ensign, 
each  wore  white  pantaloons,  a  dark  coat,  and  a  tall  black  hat  with 
a  long  feather  pompon.  The  artillery  company,  whose  gun-house 
was  located  at  the  Centre  Village,  wore,  I  think,  the  cocked  hat 
and  other  uniform  of  the  Revolutionary  army,  excepting  the  knee 
breeches.  The  "troopers,"  (as  the  cavalry  were  called)  wore  stiff 
leather  hats  covered  with  bearskin — bobtail,  scarlet  coats  with  white 
facings,  white  breeches  and  long  cavalry  boots.  They  had  a  hol- 
ster covered  with  bearskin  on  each  side  of  their  saddles  for  the 
enormous  brass-barrelled  horse-pistols  of  that  period. 

The  old-fashioned  muster  was,  in  the  olden  time,  the  most 
dissipated  day  of  the  whole  year.  Patriotic  hilarity  prevailed,  and 
the  patriotism  of  the  man  who  refused  to  "take  something"  was 
doubted.  Many  unsuspecting  countrymen  fell  into  the  hands  of 
professional  gamblers  and  were  victims  to  their  perfidious  arts. 
Sometimes  the  gambler  and  his  victim  fought —  their  friends  joined 
in  the  contest —  knives  were  drawn —  ihe  militia  joined  in  the  fight, 
and  the  blacklegs  were  overwhelmed  and  routed.  The  country  boy 
who  whipped  a  gambler  on  the  muster-field  became  a  rural  hero. 
Without  giving  any  military  instruction  of  value,  these  musters 
were  schools  of  debauchery  and  crime,  and  it  was  a  white  day  when 
they  were  legislated  out  of  existence,  which  was  about  35  years  ago. 

In  my  boyhood  a  few  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  were  lingering 
on  the  stage  and  were  looked  on  with  veneration,  whatever  might 
be  their  foibles.  One  I  well  remember  who  lived  in  this  town  or 
its  vicinity,  and  who  was  called  by  the  boys  "General  Blood."  I 
did  not  at  that  time  suspect  the  genuinenesss  of  his  title.  He  was 
a  frank  and  jovial  soul  who  delighted  to  appear  on  public  occa- 
sions wealing  a  cocked  hat  or  some  other  memento  of  his  martial 
career.  The  gratitude  of  his  countrymen  was  manifested  by 
"drink-offerings"  too  frequently  for  his  own  good,  though  they 
meant  nothing  but  kindness. 

Since  the  infancy  of  this  town  a  great  change  has  been  wrought 
in  its  social  customs.  Then  ardent  spirits  were  freely  drank  on 
all  occasions.  No  meeting-house  could  be  raised —  no  clergyman 
could  be  satisfactorily  ordained  without  them.  The  full  decanter 
greeted  the  minister  at  every  parochial  visit.  It  assuaged  the 
grief  of  the  mourners  at  every  funeral  and  doubled  the  hilarity  of 


30 

every  wedding.  No  militia  captain  was  popular  unless  he  furnished 
his  soldiers  with  a  wash-tub  full  of  rum-punch  on  "training-days. 
Laborers  generally  believed  that  no  man  could  work  hard  without 
his  grog.  Furious  was  the  "hired  man"  whose  employer  stinted 
his  supply  of  rum —  especially  in  haying-time,  and  such  disgraceful 
parsimony  was  sure  to  call  out  popular  indignation.  Kvery  country- 
store  displayed  gorgeously-painted  casks  of  liquor  properly  labelled, 
behind  the  counter  on  which  stood  the  tin  tray  full  of  dry  salt  cod- 
fish, furnished  gratuitously  to  excite  a  raging  thirst.  Strong 
liquors  were  then  wonderfully  cheap,  which  much  increased  in- 
temperance—  a  fact  on  which  the  statesmen  who  now  propose  to 
abolish  the  duty  on  rum  and  whiskey  and  still  tax  the  necessaries 
of  life  would  do  well  to  ponder.  Good  New  England  rum  could 
then  be  bought  for  20  cents  a  gallon,  which  is  but  little  more 
than  the  price  of  spring-water  in  Boston  now.  The  state  of  things 
which  I  have  described  existed  to  a  considerable  extent  in  my  boy- 
hood. Between  40  and  50  years  ago  I  was  one  of  a  uniformed 
military  company  composed  of  young  boys  who  trained  several 
times  a  year,  and  were  always  openly  treated  with  wine  or  punch 
at  some  of  the  stores,  without  any  hostile  criticism  so  far  as  I 
knew.  And  the  first  and  only  time  I  ever  trained  in  the  militia, 
the  Captain  took  his  company  to  Mr.  William  Murdough's  and 
gave  them  a  tub  of  punch. 

Between  1840  and  1850,  however,  the  "Washingtonian"  tem- 
perance movement  struck  Bradford  and  effected  a  reformation  in 
the  views  and  habits  of  many  of  the  people  which  has  never  fully 
lost  its  force,  and  for  which  many  wives  and  children  have  good 
reasons  to  bless  "the  Giver  of  all  mercies" —  for  a  worse  evil  than 
intemperance  does  not  now  exist  on  earth. 

There  has  been  a  great  change  in  the  habits  of  domestic  life 
within  the  present  century,  and  even  within  my  memory.  I  think, 
(though  I  am  not  quite  positive,)  that  I  can  recollect  a  time  when 
there  was  not  a  cooking  stove  in  this  town —  certainly  when  there 
were  very  few.  The  great  open  fire-place,  with  its  huge  back-log 
and  heaps  of  blazing  cord-wood  furnished  warmth  both  for  com- 
fort and  cooking.  The  heat  that  went  roaring  up  the  chimney 
created  furious  drafts  from  every  part  of  the  room,  that  chilled  one 
side  while  the  other  was  roasting.  The  goose  or  turkey  or  haunch 
of  fresh  beef,  hung  by  a  string  before  the  fire-place  while  one  of  the 
younger  children  turned  and  basted  it.  The  tin  "baker"  sat  on  the 
broad  stone  hearth —  the  potatoes  for  breakfast  were  buried  in  the 


31 

hot  ashes  at  night.  Grafted  fruit  was  unknown — good  fruit  was 
rare,  but  the  orchards  were  large  and  cider  so  plentiful  that  sixtjr 
barrels  a  year  was  not  an  extraordinary  provision  for  a  single 
household. 

Instead  of  relying  on  the  visits  of  a  butcher,  nearly  every  family, 
late  in  the  fall,  buried  in  snow  its  store  of  fresh  meat  for  the  win- 
ter. Most  families  had  an  immense  hand-loom  in  which  was  woven 
into  cloth  the  flax  or  wool  which  was  -raised,  carded,  spun,  and 
dyed  at  home.  Some  expert  seamstress  went  from  house  to  house 
to  make  up  the  family  wardrobes,  and  the  shoe-maker,  with  his 
work-bench  and  lap-stone,  did  the  same.  The  family  library  was 
generally  limited  to  the  Farmer's  Almanac  and  the  bible,  though 
the  latter  was  sometimes  accompanied  by  Scott's  Commentaries — 
one  of  the  dullest  works  that  ever  benumbed  the  human  mind. 
The  bare  walls  of  the  dwelling  were  adorned  by  no  engravings  nor 
works  of  art,  and  hardly  a  family  possessed  a  musical  instrument  of 
any  kind.  Indeed,  the  pious,  elderly  people  of  that  time  looked 
upon  the  use  of  an}T  such  thing  in  divine  worship  as  "an  abomination 
unto  the  Lord."  The  meeting-houses  were  long  unwarmed  by  ar- 
tificial heat,  even  in  the  coldest  weather,  and  the  use  of  tin  foot- 
stoves  by  any  males  except  the  aged  and  sickly,  was  looked  upon 
as  contemptible  effeminacy. 

Our  ancestors  of  a  hundred  years  ago,  generally  believed  that 
the  invisible  world  directly  interfered  with  and  influenced  the 
trivial  affairs  of  their  daily  lives.  They  FELT  that  the  sleepless  eye 
of  Omnipotence  was  constantly  upon  them  and  that  the  powerful 
and  malignant  tempter  and  adversary  of  man,  constantly  prowled 
around  their  dwelling  and  beleagured  their  souls  with  snares  and 
pitfalls.  In  their  eyes,  to  doubt  the  existence  of  witches  and  witch- 
craft, was  a  guilty  skepticism  of  the  biblical  truth. 

To  educate  the  children  of  the  town,  was  thought  by  our  fore- 
fathers, to  be  one  of  their  chief  duties.  The  school-houses  of  that 
day  were  rude,  and  the  schools  short.  Boys  generally  attended 
the  winter  school  till  they  became  of  age,  and  sometimes  longer, 
for  in  an  agricultural  community,  there  is  comparatively  little  work 
and  much  leisure  in  the  cold  season.  I  dare  say  the  schools  and 
school-houses  of  this  town  changed  very  little  during  the  first  half 
ct-ntury  of  its  existence,  and  that  the  first  school  I  attended  was  a 
fair  type  of  the  earlier  ones. 

At  that  time  the  "Mills"  and  "Corner"  villages  occupied  the 
same  brick  school-house  wliich,  changed  to  a  dwelling  now,  stands 


82 

near  the  house  of  the  late  Dr.  Ames.  The  seats  rose  from  the 
floor  nearly  to  the  ceiling  on  each  side  of  the  house.  If  a  scholar 
dropped  anything,  it  was  sure  to  roll  or  slide  to  the  level  plain  in 
the  middle —  at  one  end  of  which,  near  the  door,  stood  an  immense, 
open,  iron  stove,  and  at  the  other,  the  master's  desk.  The  small 
scholars  near  the  stove,  were  daily  toasted  in  cold  weather  by  the 
fire,  which  blazed  and  roared  in  their  faces.  Every  scholar  who 
studied  penmanship  carried  his  own  ink-stand  of  lead  or  stone 
(which  every  cold  morning  was  warmed  by  the  fire  to  thaw  the 
frozen  ink)  and  a  goose-quill  of  which  the  teacher  made  a  pen. 
The  ink  was  generally  made  at  home  of  vinegar,  nut-galls  and  iron, 
and  of  course  was  indelible 

There  was  then  no  sentimentality  about  administering  corporal 
punishment.  Many  of  the  punishments  that  I  have  seen  were  in- 
geniously cruel  and  barbarous.  Scholars  were  made  to  hold  a 
stick  of  wood  at  arm's  length —  to  carry  as  much  wood  as  they 
could  lift  around  the  stove —  to  put  their  heads  down  as  low  as 
their  knees  and  stand  in  that  position —  to  hold  down  a  nail  in 
the  floor  with  the  finger  while  standing —  all  until  the  limit  of 
human  endurance  was  reached.  My  first  teacher  was  John 
Towne,  who  was  afterwards  the  Register  of  Deeds  of  Sullivan 
County  for  many  years,  and  who  still  lives  at  Newport.  The  next 
was  Mr.  Eastman,  who  was  afterwards  a  successful  physician  at 
Newport  and  died  there.  Then  came  a  Mr.  Clifford,  who  taught 
English  grammar  so  skillfully  that  its  study  was  a  pleasure  and 
not  a  bore. 

There  was,  50  years  ago,  considerable  rivalry  between  the 
"Mills"  and  "Corner"  villages.  Perhaps  it  has  not  yet  wholly 
vanished,  though  I  hope  it  has,  since  the  railroad  wedded  the  rivals 
to  each  other.  But  the  rivalry  between  the  grown  villagers  was 
between  the  school-boys,  a  feud  as  fierce,  if  not  as  fatal,  as  ever 
raged  between  two  hostile  clans  in  the  Scotch  highlands,  or  be- 
tween the  Iroquois  and  Hurons  in  the  American  forests.  The 
scholars  from  the  "Mills"  were  called  "upper-enders,"  and  those 
from  the  "Corner"  and  the  country  beyond  it,  "lower-enders." 
The  feud  had  outlived  generations  of  school-boys,  and  every 
morning,  noon,  and  night,  gave  rise  to  furious  contests  in  which 
quarter  was  neither  asked  nor  given.  The  brawny  young  men 
who  sat  in  the  back  seats,  and  who  were  believed  to  be  able  to 
whip  the  master  if  they  chose  to  try,  were  looked  up  to  by  the 
small  boys  with  the  same  mingled  envy  and  admiration  that  were 


bestowed  on  Ajax  and  the  swift  Achilles  by  the  home-sick  common 
Greeks,  who  beleagured  the  walls  of  "wind-swept  Troy."  Even 
innocent  love-making  was  limited  by  the  feud,  and  was  seldom, 
if  ever,  carried  on  between  the  young  "upper-euders"  and  "lower- 
•enders."  Finally  about  50  years  ago  the  district  was  divided— 
distance  accomplished  what  parental  reproof  and  clerical  admo- 
nition could  not,  and  extinguished  the  long  feud  of  the  school-boys* 

The  early  settlers  of  Bradford,  and  indeed  of  all  New  Hamp- 
shire, were  fond  of  conflict  and  loved  rough,  athletic  sports,  law- 
suits, and  arguments.  Raisings,  huskings,  town-meetings,  and 
all  kinds  of  week-day  gatherings  except  funerals,  were  enlivened- 
by  wrestling  matches,  foot-races,  pulling  fingers,  pulling  sticks, 
and  muscular  contests  of  all  forms. 

They  enjoyed  litigation  with  the  keen  zest  of  Dandle  Dinmont, 
who  said  that  in  Liddesdale,  it  was  disgraceful  for  a  man  never  to 
have  been  before  the  twelve.  Almost  every  cause  of  action  led  to 
a  law-suit,  and  as  every  man  could  be  arrested  on  any  kind  of  writ, 
the  plaintiff  didn't  have  to  worry  himself  about  finding  property  to 
attach.  I  think  Weare  Tappan  was  the  first  lawyer  who  ever  resid- 
ed here,  and  he  is  authentically  reported  to  have  said  that  his  fees 
for  making  justice-writs  alone,  while  he  was  building  and  furnish- 
ing his  house,  paid  for  it  all. 

In  New  Hampshire  rural  communities  like  this,  the  long  winter 
evenings  are  seldom  given  up  to  gross  dissipation  or  mere  amuse- 
ment, as  is  the  case  among'  men  less  intelligent  and  less  serious,  or 
who  are  surrounded  by  the  numerous  diversions  of  cities.  Here,  in 
every  store  and  shop,  groups  of  men  met  at  night  and  on  stormy 
days  and  discussed  with  keenness  and  sound  common-sense  the 
great  questions  of  the  time.  It  is  impossible  to  over-rate  the  advan- 
tages of  such  fireside  discussions  in  a  republic  like  ours.  They  are 
the*  preparatory  schools  for  the  town-meetings. 

How  well  I  remember  the  first  Tuesdays  of  March,  when  nearly  50 
years  ago,  the  voters  braved  the  cutting  wind,  the  flying  snow,  and 
the  huge  drifts,  to  attend  the  annual  meeting  at  the  Centre  village. 

Some  of  the  boys  peddled  votes  and  some  apples  and  gingerbread, 
the  flat  cakes  of  which  were  devoured  with  an  appetite  that  nothing 
but  the  biting  cold  and  toilsome  journey  could  justify.  Such  town- 
meetings  made  New  England  what  she  is.  They  taught  every  citi- 
zen the  difficult  art  of  popular  government.  In  them  the  plain 
people,  discussed  and  decided  the  questions  which  concerned  them, 
sometimes  with  a  terseness  and  force  that  might  well  excite  admi- 


84 

ration  in  the  highest  legislative  body  on  earth.  If  I  were  to  se- 
lect for  the  instruction  and  admiration  of  the  people  of  foreign 
lands  the  most  wonderful  and  precious  object-lesson  our  national 
life  can  show,  I  would  display  to  their  eyes  the  records  of  some 
New  England  town  like  this.  Marred  as  they  often  are  by 
faults  of  spelling  and  grammar —  exhibiting  as  they  sometimes 
do  the  avarice  and  meanness  from  which  political  communities 
can  never  be  entirely  exempt,  they  generally  manifest  soundness 
of  judgment,  practical  wisdom,  and  unerring  common-sense. 
When  I  look  back  upon  the  leading  men  of  this  town  40  to  50 
years  ago,  and  compare  them  with  those  whom  I  have  seen  since 
in  the  highest  stations,  their  ability  astonishes  me.  Nor  do  I 
doubt  that  you  have  the  same  practical  ability  here  to-day. 

Like  all  the  purely  agricultural  towns  of  New  England,  afar 
from  cities,  Bradford  has  diminished  in  population  for  many 
years  past.  New-Bradford  contained  128  inhabitants  in  1786, 
and  in  1790,  217.  Since  1790  there  has  been  a  census  every  ten 
years,  but  I  will  not  give  the  number  of  inhabitants  here,  accord- 
ing to  each,  as  my  friend  who  is  to  follow  me  will  give  you 
the  figures.  Suffice  it  for  me  to  say  that  in  1810  Bradford  had  84 
more  inhabitants  than  she  had  in  1880 —  70  years  later.  Between 
1820  and  1880  she  lost  368.  Her  greatest  population  was  shown 
in  1850.  It  was  then  1341,  but  had  dwindled  to  950  in  1880. 

Empty  school-houses,  abandoned  and  ruinous  farm-houses, 
once  fertile  fields,  now  devoted  to  grazing  or  turning  into  wilder- 
ness again,  proclaim  how,  allured  by  the  love  of  adventure  or 
hope  of  success,  the  youth  of  New  Hampshire  have  flown  away 
from  their  native  hills,  and  how,  when  parents  grow  helpless  or 
pass  from  earth,  their  places  remain  vacant,  and  the  old  home- 
steads become  desolate.  The  time  will  doubtless  come  when  the 
cheap  and  fertile  lands  of  the  West  and  South  will  be  exhausted 
or  taken  up,  and  the  tide  of  human  life  will  flow  back  to  breathe 
the  forceful  air  that  sweeps  from  our  mountains,  and  to  quaff 
the  pure  water  that  oozes  from  the  granite  of  our  hills. 

But  however  much  the  Granite  State  may  have  suffered  from 
the  emigration  of  her  children,  she  can  console  herself  with  the 
reflection  that  wherever  they  may  have  gone,  they  have  very 
seldom  brought  discredit  upon  their  birth-place.  Abundant  phys- 
ical exercise  and  the  keen  air  of  their  native  hills,  have  equipped 
them  with  a  hardihood  and  vigor  that  softer  and  more  enervating 
climes  deny. 


35 

Stirred  by  the  same  restless  ambition  that  impelled  our  far-off 
ancestors — the  blue-eyed  barbarians  of  the  North — to  the  con- 
quest of  Rome,  they  have  sought  fortune  and  fame  in  every  part 
of  our  broad  national  domain —  nay,  in  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth.  They  and  those  who  have  sprung  from  their  loina  may 
be  found  in  the  marts  of  commerce —  in  the  learned  professions — 
in  the  halls  of  legislation —  in  all  the  arenas  of  human  enterprise 
and  activity —  successful,  powerful,  trusted,  and  honored.  Men 
and  women  of  New  Hampshire  blood  are  far  more  numerous 
outside  her  borders  than  within  them,  and  their  influence  has  been 
every-where  strongly  felt. 

I  am  glad  to  meet  here  to-day,  living  proofs  and  illustrations 
of  the  truth  of  what  I  am  saying,  and  among  them  my  young 
friend,  who  is  soon  to  address  you —  the  lieutenant-governor  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.  He  comes  back  to  his  birth- 
place to-day  wearing  on  his  brow  the  honors  he  has  fairly  won 
by  his  untiring  industry,  his  strong  common  sense,  his  judicial 
fairness,  his  solid  ability,  and  more  than  all  else,  his  unswerving 
honesty — which  has  never  been  attacked,  unless  perhaps  by 
some  lying  thief  whom  he  has  balked  in  schemes  of  plunder. 

How  difficult  it  is  for  any  of  us  to  realize  what  enormous 
changes  have  taken  place  within  the  last  hundred  years.  It  is 
not  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  human  race  has  mude  greater 
progress  during  that  period  than  it  ever  did  in  any  thousand 
years  preceding  it. 

Imagine  if  you  can  the  astonishment  of  Dea.  William  Presbury 
could  he  come  to  life  to-day.  How  impossible  to  explain  to  him 
how  one  of  us  left  San  Francisco  less  than  six  days  ago,  another 
Philadelphia  yesterday,  and  how  another  came  from  Boston  in 
less  than  five  hours  to-day.  He  reads  in  this  morning's  newspaper 
a  long  account  of  great  fires  in  Calcutta  and  St.  Petersburg  only 
last  night.  He  listens  to  the  voice  of  one  of  his  numerous  de- 
scendants, who  pays  his  respects  to  him  through  the  telephone 
from  old  Pennacook.  He  hears  of  a  single  corporation  at  Amos- 
keag  Falls  that  annually  makes  cloth  enough  to  girdle  the  earth — 
and  of  the  great  steamers  that  cross  the  ocean  in  six  days.  He 
sees  the  hay  which  was  mowed,  spread,  and  raked  by  machinery. 
He  reads  with  speechless  alarm  of  the  thousand  wonders  wrought 
by  the  tamed  lightning,  which  he  supposed  came  only  from  tho 
thunder-cloud  to  burn  and  destroy.  Would  he  not  despise  him- 
self as  a  mere  babe  in  knowledge?  Would  he  not  feel  like  a 


ffc 

child  surrounded  by  the  glittering1  scenes  of  oriental  enchantment — 
like  Aladdin,  dazzled  and  overpowered  by  the  gorgeous  creations  of 
the  genie  of  the  magic  lamp?  Would  he  not  suspect  some  new  and 
unheard-of  form  of  witchcraft —  snuff  the  air  for  the  scent  of  brim- 
stone, and  nervously  scan  »s  from  head  to  foot,  fearing  to  see  the- 
hoofs  and  horns  of  the  great  adversary?  Doubtless  he  would T 
but  yet,  that  old  Purican,  despite  his  ignorance  of  modern  science 
and  art,  may  have  had  the  head  of  a  sage  and  the  heart  of  a  lion, 
We  may  well  be  proud  of  our  ancestors,  who  laid  in  the  wildernessr 
the  solid  foundations  of  this  great  republic,  beneath  the  shelter  of 
whose  starry  flag  GO  millions  of  souls  are  working  out  the  gigantic 
problem  of  popular  self-government. 

It  is  an  illustration  of  the  fixity  and  stability  of  agricultural  com- 
munities, that  nearly  all  the  first  settlers  are  represented  here  in 
name  or  in  blood  to-day.  Here  are  the  descendants  of  PresburyT 
Davis,  Eaton,  Hoyt,  Swett,  Brockway,  Brown,  Jacobs,  and  the 
other  pioneers  of  civilization  who  founded  this  town,  and  many  of 
them  live  on  the  same  acres  that  were  cleared  by  the  axes  of  their 
forefathers. 

It  has  been  wisely  said  that  happy  is  the  nation  whose  annals  are 
tiresome.  The  early  annals  of  this  town  are  tiresome  enough  to  war- 
rant the  belief  that  its  founders  found  here  an  Elysium.  It  took 
no  part  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars.  It  was  scarcely  settled  at 
the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war  yet  it  was  well  represented  in  the 
battles  which  won  our  national  independence.  In  the  war  of  1812, 
it  of  course  did  its  whole  duty,  but  that  duty  was  by  no  means  a 
conspicuous  one. 

In  the  great  civil  strife  which,  in  the  Providence  of  God  rescued 
our  government  from  the  deadly  embrace  of  slavery  and  cemented 
with  patriotic  blood  that  union  on  which  our  national  future  depends, 
this  town  was  by  no  means  backward.  One  of  her  honored  citizens, 
Mason  Weare  Tappan,  commanded  the  first  regiment  that  our  state 
gent  to  the  field.  I  cannot  think  of  him  without  a  pang  of  sorrow 
'that  he  cannot  be  here  with  us  to-day —  that  we  cannot  listen  to 
his  inspiring  accents  ard  grasp  his  friendly  hand.  But,  though 
he  has  vanished  from  mortal  eyes  forever —  though  his  generous 
heart  has  ceased  to  beat,  and  his  eloquent  voice  is  forever  hushed, 
he  is  enshrined  in  our  memories  till  we  ourselves  shall  be  no  morek 

To  the  soldiers  who,  inspired  by  patriotism,   honorably  served  in 

that  great  struggle,  we  owe  an  almost  boundless  debt   of  gratitude. 

"Grateful  should  we  be  also  to  their  wives,  mothers,  sisters  and   chrl. 


37 

dren,  nay,  to  all  who  strove  or  suffered  for  that  glorious  cause. 
Never  was  there  a  cause  more  just  or  momentous  to  the  human 
race.  Never  was  there  a  victory  more  beneficent  than  that  which 
bound  North  and  South  into  one  harmonious  whole.  But  for  it,  our 
country  would  certainly  have  been  broken  into  bleeding  fragments — 
forever  at  war  with  each  other —  and  we  and  our  descendants  for 
many  generations,  would  never  have  seen  the  white-winged  angel  of 
peace,  unless  she  came  linked  to  the  iron  sceptre  of  military  despot- 
ism. From  the  unspeakable  horrors  of  long  intestine  warfare — from 
war-born  poverty  and  wretchedness —  from  anarchy  and  the  weak- 
ness that  would  have  rendered  us  an  easy  prey  to  foreign  invaders — 
the  victory  of  the  Union  cause  in  1865,  delivered  us  and  our  descen- 
dants, unless  blinded  by  party  spirit,  the  people  of  this  country  fail 
to  appreciate  the  advantages  of  union  and  cultivate  discord  instead 
of  harmony.  We  have  no  prophetic  vision  to  peer  into  the  future, 
and  what  the  next  century  has  in  store  for  this  town  and  its  in- 
habitants, we  cannot  tell.  But  this  much  we  do  know —  that  the 
prosperity  of  this  town  depends  upon  the  prosperity  of  our  coun- 
try, and  that  our  country's  prosperty  depends  on  the  preservation 
of  our  federal  union.  The  South  has  been  freed  from  what  every 
intelligent  man  now  admits  to  have  been  a  withering  curse,  and 
which  no  one  wishes  restored.  Her  horizon  is  illumined  by  the 
dawn  of  a  prosperity  such  as  she  never  dreamed  of  while  in  her 
bondage  to  Slavery.  The  cause  of.  dissension  between  her  and 
the  North  has  been  plucked  up  by  the  roots  and  burned  to  ashes. 

The  North  rallied  to  arms  in  1861  to  compel  the  South  to  re- 
main in  the  Union —  to  weld  two  hostile  sections  into  one  united 
and  happy  people  with  exactly  the  same  rights  and  duties.  For 
that  object  her  soldiers  fought,  for  that  she  poured  out  her  blood 
like  water,  and  her  treasures  without  stint.  Would  she  have  made 
such  costly  sacrifices  to  make  of  the  South  another  Ireland?  NO! 
a  thousand  times,  NO ! 

Nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  has  elapsed  since  the  war  ended, 
and  a  new  generation  which  did  not  partake  of  its  passions  is 
coming  upon  the  stage.  Is  this  the  time  to  fan  into  flame  the 
dying  embers  of  fraternal  strife?  The  plain,  honest  people  of 
this  country  do1  not  wish  it.  The  men  whose  courage  saved  the 
Union  do  not  wish  it.  He  who  seeks  to  flaunt  in  the  face  of 
the  vanquished  South  the  trophies  of  our  victory  and  her  de- 
feat—  to  keep  alive  the  animosity  which  engendered  and  was  en- 
gendered by  the  war,  is  willing  for  party  success  or  selfish 


88 

aggrandizement,  to  sacrifice  the  very  object  for  which  the  Union 
army  fought,  and  to  sow  the  seeds  of  future  dissensions  and 
bloodshed.  How  paltry  and  purblind  the  patriotism  that  reveres 
collections  of  blood-stained  battle-flags  as  the  chief  trophies  of 
its  valor.  Its  true  trophies  are  such  as  neither  moth  nor  rust 
can  corrupt,  nor  fire  consume,  nor  the  "all-devouring  tooth  of 
time"  destroy. 

This  broad  country  stretching  from  sea  to  sea —  its  beautiful 
flag,  the  symbol  of  national  power,  with  not  a  star  blotted  out 
nor  obscured —  a  people  proud,  happy  and  united  in  one  free 
government —  these  are  the  monuments  which  will  preserve  the 
fame  of  the  heroes  whose  prowess  saved  the  Union,  when  the 
pyramids  shall  have  crumbled  into  dust. 

Lot  ua  pray  to  the  great  Ruler  of  nations  that  Time  may 
heal  the  wounds  mutally  inflicted  in  four  years  of  warfare — 
that  love  and  confidence  may  take  the  place  of  hate  and  dis- 
trust—  that  all  sections  of  our  country  may  unite  to  promote 
national  prosperity  and  individual  happiness,  to  resist  if  need 
be  a  hostile  world  in  arms  and  to  eradicate  from  our  political 
life  that  foul  corruption  which  threatens  to  destroy  by  internal 
rot  and  gangrene,  the  great  republic  which  the  storms  of  war 
could  not  dissever. 


ADDRESS 

By   Hon.   John   Quincy   Adams   Brackett. 


MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  FELLOW-CHILDREN  OF 
BRADFORD:— 

For,  whatever  our  ages,  we  are  all  children  to-day,  who  have 
come  home  to  bring  our  greetings  to  our  good  old  Mother  Town 
upon  this  her  hundredth  birth-day. 

The  completion  of  a  century  in  the  life  of  an  individual,  a 
town,  or  a  nation  is  an  event  that  always  deserves  commemo- 
ration. A  public  spirited  community  will  never  permit  it  to 
pass  unnoticed,  whether  it  occurs  to  one  of  their  number  or  to 
them  all  as  a  municipal  organization. 

The  town  of  Bradford  has  now  arrived  at  this  stage  in  its 
career.  It  is  one  hundred  years  old  to-day.  One  chapter  of  its 
history  is  closed.  A  new  page  is  turned  over,  and  it  enters  up- 
on its  second  century.  Its  sons  and  daughters,  mindful  of  its 
past,  hopeful  for  its  future,  have  gathered  here  to  make  fitting 
observance  of  the  occasion.  We  have  come  cordially  to  greet 
the  living,  tenderly  to  remember  the  dead.  We  have  come  to 
show  by  our  presence  our  regard  for  the  town  and  our  rever- 
ence for  its  founders.  As  we  are  commanded  to  honor  our 
fathers  and  mothers,  in  the  spirit  of  that  injunction  we  also 
honor  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  the  town  in  which  we  were 
born.  The  plaudits  of  posterity  are  ever  due  those 

"Who  cleave  the    forest   down, 
And  plant,   amid    the  wilderness, 
The  hamlet    and  the  town." 

We  are  here  to  pay  our  tribute  to  the  pioneers  of  Bradford; 
to  manifest  our  grateful  appreciation  of  their  heroism  and  self- 
sacrifice  in  abandoning  the  abodes  of  civilization,  the  pleasures 
and  advantages  of  social  life,  and  consigning  themselves  to  the 
solitude,  the  pathless  forests,  there  struggling  amid  hardships 
and  privations  to  establish  homes  for  themselves  and  their  de- 
scendants. 

We  are  here    also  to  strengthen  the     ties   of    kinship    which 


40 

ought  ever  to  exist  among  those  who  belong,  by  birth  or  residence, 
to  the  same  town.  It  is  a  relationship  which  may  not  be  recognized 
by  law,  but  it  finds  recognition  in  every  well  ordered  human  heart. 
We  have  a  fraternal  feeling  for  our  townsmen.  It  is  a  manifesta- 
tion on  a  different  scale  of  the  sentiment  which  unites  the  people 
of  a  nation.  It  is  a  feeling  of  which  we  are,  perhaps,  more  sensible 
when  abroad  than  when  at  home.  Longfellow,  describing  in 
"Evangeline"  the  meeting  of  the  banished  Acadians  in  a  foreign 
land,  says: — 

"They   who   before   were   as   strangers, 

Meeting   in   exile,   become   straightway  as  friends  to  each  other, 
Drawn   by   the   gentle   bond   of   a   common   country  together." 

Who  of  our  number  is  there  that  has  not  felt  the  force  of  a  sim- 
ilar tie,  when,  far  from  here,  he  has  chanced  to  meet  another,  un- 
known to  him  before,  it  may  be,  who  came  from  his  native  town. 
This  is  a  sentiment  to  be  fostered,  for  it  is  conducive  to  patriotism. 
The  stronger  our  attachment  to  our  countrymen,  and  especially  to 
those  who  dwell  in  the  same  part  of  the  country  with  ourselves, 
the  greater  will  be  our  love  of  country.  This  is  one  of  the  senti- 
ments which  inspires  us  to-day,  and  which  will  be  reviewed  and 
strengthened  by  this  joyous  family  reunion. 

History  tells  us,  as  has  been  already  stated,  that  the  first  settler 
in  Bradford  was  Deacon  William  Presbury.  He  came  originally 
from  Stowe,  Massachusetts,  and  first  settled  in  Henniker.  He  was 
one  of  the  petitioners  for  the  incorporation  of  that  town  in  1768, 
and  subsequently  held  the  offices  of  town  clerk  and  selectman  there. 
Having  aided  in  giving  that  new  town  a  start,  he  seems,  like  Alex- 
ander of  old,  to  have  sighed  for  new  worlds  to  conquer,  and  so 
'  we  find  him  in  1771  taking  his  wife  and  his  worldly  goods  and  push- 
ing still  further  into  the  wilderness.  He  came  to  Bradford  and  lo- 
cated near  the  spot  upon  which  the  residence  of  Stephen  Morse 
now  stands.  Here  he  lived  for  forty-three  years,  doing  the  work 
and  undergoing  the  trials  which  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  pioneer.  He 
died  in  1814,  and  his  wife  in  1834,  and  both  are  buried  upon  the 
old  Burying  Hill.  Upon  Mrs.  Presbury's  tombstone  is  the  in- 
scription "The  first  and  for  two  years  the  only  woman  in  town." 

History,  as  I  have  said,  credits  Deacon  Presbury  with  being 
the  first  settler.  There  is,  however,  another  candidate  for  this 
honor,  Isaac  Davis,  the  great-grandfather  of  the  president  of 
the  day.  The  late  Eliphalet  Davis,  the  well  known  manufacturer, 
of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  is  cited  as  an  authority  for  the 


41 

statement  that  his  father,  Daniel  Davis,  was  born  in  Bradford,  and 
the  date  of  his  birth  being  in  1766,  this  statement,  if  correct, 
would  make  Isaac  Davis,  the  father  of  Daniel,  a  resident  here  in 
that  year.  The  late  Mrs.  Nathan  Piper,  who  died  in  1877  at  the  age 
of  ninety-six,  aad  who  was  twenty-seven  years  old  at  the  time 
of  the  death  of  Isaac  Davis  in  1808,  also  used  to  say,  as  it  is 
reported,  that  he  told  her  that  he  settled  here  in  J762,  and  other 
evidence  is  said  to  exist  to  the  same  effect.  On  the  other  hand  are 
the  statements  in  all  the  public  histories  and  gazetteers  that  William 
Preshury  was  the  first  settler.  I  have  no  warrant  to  decide  between 
these  conflicting  claims,  and  shall  not  presume  so  to  do.  I  merely 
refer  to  them,  leaving  it  to  others  who  may  be  interested  in  inves- 
tigating the  matter  to  solve  the  question  as  to  which  of  these  two 
brave  old  pioneers  took  precedence. 

The  town  records  commence  in  1786,  the  year  preceding  that 
in  which  the  charter  was  granted.  The  record  of  the  first  town 
meeting  begins  as  follows  : — 

"Bradford,  March  27,  1786.  Met  according  to  warning.  VOTED 
Mr.  John  Brown,  Moderator,  to  govern  the  present  meeting." 

John  Brown  was  my  great-grandfather,  and  bore  the  same  relation 
to  the  president  of  the  day.  We  may  both,  perhaps,  be  pardoned  if 
we  take  a  little  ancestral  pride  in  the  fact  that  in  that  primitive  peri- 
od the  fellow-citizens  of  our  fore- father  had  such  confidence  in  his 
knowledge  of  parliamentary  practice  as  to  select  him  to  preside  over 
their  first  town  meeting.  He  was  the  fisrt  settler  at  the  "Corner 
Village,"  his  house  being  near  where  that  of  my  father  now  stands. 
The  other  officers  elected  at  that  first  town  meeting  were  Ebenezer 
.Eaton,  Town  Clerk ;  Nathaniel  Presbury,  Constable;  James  Pres- 
bury,  Enoch  Hoyt,  and  Isaac  Davis,  Selectmen ;  John  Brown,  Will- 
iam Clement,  and  Daniel  Young,  Committee  to  settle  with  the  Se* 
lectmen  ;  William  Presbury,  Daniel  Cressy,  and  Isaac  Davis,  Sur- 
veyors of  highways.  Mr.  Eaton  was  annually  elected  town  clerk  for 
many  years  thereafter,  and  had  the  honor  of  being  the  first  repre- 
sentative of  the  town  in  the  General  Court,  being  chosen  to  repre- 
sent Bradford  and  Newbury,  then  called  Fishersfield,  in  1796. 
He  kept  a  public  house  on  the  road  leading  from  the  Centre  to  the 
Plain,  and  was  the  grandfather  of  E.  H.  Eaton.  Of  the  other 
officers  named,  Nathaniel  Presbury  was  the  cousin  of  William.  He 
lived  near  the  Centre  where  the  residence  of  Allen  Cressy  now 
stands.  James  Presbury  was  the' ancestor  of  Mason  B.  Presbury. 
Daniel  Cressy  kept  a  public  house  on  the  Warner  road  at  the 

6 


42 

corner   of  that   loading   to   the   Pond,    and    was  the  grandfather  of 
William  P.  Cressy. 

At  the  time  this  town  meeting  was  held  the  town  had  no  legal 
existence.  The  inhabitants  felt  the  disadvantages  of  this  and  the 
next  year  presented  a  petition  to  the  General  Court,  setting  forth 
therein  that  they  labored  under  many  and  great  inconveniences  for 
want  of  being  incorporated  into  a  town  and  praying  that  the  town- 
ship of  New-Bradford,  together  with  a  part  of  Washington  and  a 
part  of  Washington  Gore,  so  called,  might  be  incorporated  into  a 
town  by  the  name  of  Bradford.  The  petition  was  signed  by  Eben- 
ezer  Eaton,  Ebenezer  Colby,  Daniel  Cressy,  Joseph  Presbury,  Ste- 
phen Ward,  Nathaniel  Presbury  Jr.,  James  Presbury,  John  Brown, 
Abram  Smith,  Nehr.  How.  Peter  How,  Nathaniel  Presbury,  Enoch 
Hoyt,  William  Clements,  Daniel  Katon,  John  Stanley,  Isaac  Da- 
vis, Joshua  Andrews,  Abner  Ward,  and  Moses  Bailey.  Appended 
to  the  petition  was  a  request  that  its  prayer  might  be  granted, 
signed  by  the  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  Washington  Gore  included 
in  the  petition,  viz.  Samuel  Crane,  Martin  Brockway,  Uzziel 
Batchelder,  Asa  Brockwaj^,  and  Simeon  Hildreth. 

I  have  made  especial  mention  of  some  of  these  petitioners.  It 
would  be  interesting,  if  time  permitted,  to  do  the  same  as  to  all, 
but  I  must  limit  myself  to  saying  that  nearly  all  the  names  signed 
to  the  petition  and  the  appended  request  will  at  once  be  recognized 
as  those  of  ancestors  of  well  known  families  who  have  been  long 
resident  in  the  town  and  identified  with  its  history. 

In  response  to  this  petition  the  General  Court,  upon  the  27th 
day  of  September,  1787,  passed  the  act  which  has  been  read,  in- 
corporating the  town.  It  was  made  a  part  of  the  County  of  Hills- 
borough,  and  so  remained  until  Merrimack  County  was  established 
in  1823. 

Deacon  Presbury  was  invested  by  the  act  with  the  authority  of 
calling  the  first  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  for  the  election  of  offi- 
cers, and  in  pursuance  thereof  he  notified  them  to  meet  for  the 
purpose  on  the  22nd  day  of  the  then  ensuing  October.  This  meet- 
ing was  held  on  the  day  appointed  at  the  house  of  Nathaniel  Pres- 
bury. It  is  a  happy  coincidence  that  the  oldest  inhabitant  of 
Bradford  at  this  Centennial  Celebration,  Captain  Allen  Cressy, 
lives  upon  the  spot  where  stood  the  house  of  Nathaniel  Presbury, 
in  which  that  first  town  meeting  was  held.  We  are  gratified  and 
honored  by  his  presence  with  us  to-day.  He  is  here  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  a  vigorous  and  radiant  old  age.  He  is  two  years  the  senior 


43 

of  the  nineteenth  century.  On  the  fifteenth  day  of  June  next  he 
will  have  attained  to  the  great  age  of  ninety  years.  I  know  that 
I  voice  the  hearty  feeling  of  every  person  in  this  audience  in  ex- 
pressing the  hope  that  his  life  may  be  spared  to  enable  him  to 
tnjoy  that  anniversary,  and  then  that  it  may  be  prolonged  at 
least  ten  years  more,  so  that  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  June,  1898,  just 
as  we  are  peering  over  the  partition  wall  that  separates  us 
from  the  twentieth  century,  he  may  meet  with  us  here  to  cel- 
ebrate his  own  centennial. 

The  record  does  not  state  that  any  moderator  was  elected  at  this 
meeting,  and  it  is  presumed  that  Deacon  Presbury,  who  issued  the 
warrant,  presided.  Ebenezer  Eaton  was  elected  Town  Clerk ; 
Daniel  Cressy,  Constable ;  Ebenezer  Eaton,  James  Presbury,  and 
Simeon  Hildreth,  Selectmen ;  Deacon  Presbury,  Reuben  Whitcomb, 
Enoch  Hoyt,  and  Simeon  Hildreth,  Surveyors  of  highways ;  Na- 
thaniel Presbury  and  Isaac  Davis,  Tithingmen ;  Deacon  Presbury, 
Sealer  of  weights  and  measures ;  Nathaniel  Presbury,  Sealer  of 
leather ;  Daniel  Young  and  Isaac  Davis,  Eence  Viewers ;  Daniel 
Cressy,  Surveyor  of  lumber ;  William  Presbury,  Isaac  Davis,  and 
Enoch  Hoyt,  Committee  to  settle  with  the  Selectmen.  Thus  the 
new  town  was  organized  and  began  its  municipal  history. 

The  year  in  which  Bradford  was  incorporated  was  a  memorable 
one  in  American  history.  It  was  that  in  which  the  federal  constitu- 
tion was  adopted,  the  centennial  anniversary  of  which  event  was  ob- 
served in  Philadelphia  ten  days  ago.  Bradford  is,  therefore,  but  ten 
days  younger  than  the  republic.  Our  town  and  our  nation  both  com- 
menced their  existence  as  organizations  in  the  same  year  and  month. 
What  a  contrast  between  then  and  now  as  regardsthem  both. 
Instead  of  the  mighty  nation  of  sixty  millions  of  people  in  which  we 
glory  now,  the  country  then  consisted  of  only  thirteen  small  states 
on  the  Atlantic  coast,  occupying  a  narrow  strip  of  territory  between 
the  wilderness  and  the  sea,  inhabited  by  less  than  four  millions  of 
persons,  destitute  alike  of  money,  of  commerce,  of  organized  gov- 
ernment, of  substantially  all  the  attributes  of  a  nation.  Wash- 
ington had  not  yet  been  elected  to  the  presidency.  The  south- 
western part  of  our  present  national  domain  was  foriegn  territo- 
ry, and  the  great  North-west  was  unexplored  and  comparatively 
unknown.  The  railroad,  the  telegraph,  the  telephone,  the  cotton 
gin,  illuminating  gas,  the  electric  light,  labor-saving  machinery, 
and  all  the  other  great  inventions  of  modern  times,  were,  as  yet, 
undreamed  of.  We  cannot  comprehend  the  difference  between  the 


44 

circumstances  surrounding  us  now  and  those  of  our  fathers  then, 
nor  fully  estimate  the  magnitude  of  the  obstacles  confronting  them, 
nor  the  courage  and  persistency  required  to  meet  and  overcome  tl.em. 

As  we  look  back  through  this  long  vista  of  the  past,  reflections  in 
another  direction  are  awakened.  The  imagination  penetrates  the 
coming  century  that  stretches  out  in  dim  and  shadowy  outline  before 
us.  We  think  of  Bradford's  second  centennial.  What  will  be  the 
condition  of  the  town  then,  and  who  will  be  here  to  take  part  in 
that  celebration?  We  certainly  shall  not  be.  But  may  we  neverthe- 
less be  stimulated  to  do  the  work  of  our  time,  according  to  our  op- 
portunities and  to  the  light  that  in  given  us,  as  well  correspondingly 
as  our  fore-fathers  did  theirs,  so  that  when  our  descendants  in  that 
far  away  future  meet  to  observe  the  bi-centennial  of  Bradford,  they 
may  look  back  to  the  men  and  women  of  our  general  ion  with  the 
same  reverence  and  gratitude  which  we  feel  for  the  sturdy  pioneers 
of  a  century  ago. 

Having  organized  their  town  government,  our  ancestors  turnt-d 
their  attention  to  those  other  subjects  which  were  essential  to  the 
welfare  of  the  young  town.  Among  them  they  showed  their  ap- 
preciation of  the  importance  of  religion.  The  first  meeting-house 
was  built  in  1796,  and  the  first  town  meeting  held  therein  in  March, 
1798.  The  Congregational  Society  was  incorporated  in  181 G.  The 
new  church  was  erected  about  the  year  1837,  and  thereafter  the 
old  meeting-house  was  used  as  a  town  house  only.  I  cannot  state 
when  the  Baptist  Society  was  formed,  but  it  must  have  been  as 
early  as  1797,  as  at  a  town  meeting  held  that  year  it  was  "voted 
not  to  clear  the  Baptist  Society  from  the  minister  tax."  Two  other 
meeting-houses,  the  "Pond"  and  the  "Bush,"  have  flourished  in 
the  past,  but  services  have  not  been  regularly  held  in  them  in  recent 
years. 

In  this  connection  may  be  mentioned  some  of  the  more  impor- 
tant societies  that  have  been  formed  from  time  to  time  for  education- 
al, social,  and  kindred  purposes.  By  an  act  of  the  legislature,  pass- 
ed June  15th,  1811,  Stephen  Hoyt  Jr.  and  others  were  incorporated 
as  the  "Proprietors  of  the  Union  Library  in  Bradford."  St.  Peter's 
Lodge  of  Masons  was  chartered  June  20th,  1820.  July  1st,  1829 
Bartholomew  Smith  and  others  were  incorporated  as  the  "Handel  and 
Haydn  Society  in  Bradford."  The  Bradford  Grange  was  char- 
tered May  22,  1875,  and  the  Odd  Fellows'  Lodge,  Nov.  14,1878. 

Of  the  public  houses,  the  first  was  undoubtedly  kept  by  Deacon 
Presbury.  Those  of  Ebenezer  Eaton  and  Daniel  Cressy  have  al- 


45 

read3"  been  mentioned.  At  the  Centre  was  a  tavern  called  the 
"Punch  Bowl,"  kept  by  Ebenezer  Cress}7.  It  had  a  famous 
sign,  upon  which  was  painted  a  fair  young  lady  with  the  word 
"Temperance"  beneath  the  picture.  Whether  this  was  the  name 
of  the  young  lady  or  an  indication  of  the  principles  upon  which 
the  house  w.as  conducted,  we  are  not  informed.  John  Raymond, 
who  married  a  daughter  of  Deacon  Presbury,  was  the  h'rst  pro- 
prietor of  the  hotel  at  the  Corner,  which  fitly  bears  his  name,  and 
which  was  built  early  in  the  century.  That  at  the  Mill  Village 
was  erected  and  first  kept  by  the  late  Squire  Jones,  about  the 
year  1815.  The  Springs  Hotel,  which  has  for  many  years  been 
widely  known  as  a  health  and  summer  resort  on  account  of 
its  noted  mineral  spring,  was  built  at  a  more  recent  date.  The 
last  hotel  built  was  the  "Presbury  House,"  which  was  destroyed 
by  fire  a  few  jrears  since. 

The  first  post  office  was  kept  in  the  hotel  at  the  Mills,  and  the 
first  post  master  was  Hon.  Samuel  Jones,  wi.o  also  served  for  many 
years  as  selectman,  and  was  repeatedly  elected  representative  in 
the  General  Court.  His  reputation  as  a  public  man  was  not  con- 
fined to  Bradford,  but  he  was  well  known  and  respected  throughout 
the  state,  having  held  the  positions  of  state  senator,  president  of 
the  senate,  presidential  elector,  and  other  important  public  trusts. 
He  was  born  in  1786  came  to  Bradford  in  180!)  and  died  in  1867. 

A  reference  to  the  military  history  of  Bradford  should  not  be 
omitted.  Although  the  town  was  but  sparsely  settled  during  the 
period  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  it  was  represented  in  the  pat- 
riot army  by  Andrew  Aiken,  Abel  Blood,  Richard  Cressy,  Daniel 
Cressy,  Abram  Currier,  Isaac  Davis,  John  Eaton,  Oflin  French, 
Jonathan  Knight,  and  Abraham  Sweatt.  Many  of  the  descend- 
ants of  these  veterans  are  now  living  in  the  town.  An  event  which 
vividly  recalled  the  great  struggle  in  which  they  and  their  com- 
patriots took  part,  occurred  in  Bradford  just  50  years  after  the 
commencement  of  the  war.  This  was  the  visit  of  Lafayette  in  1825. 
The  late  Dr.  Jason  H.  Ames,  then  a  young  physician  just  com- 
mencing practice,  was  the  chief  marshal  of  the  day.  Accompanied 
by  Captain  Allen  Cressy,  John  Harrirnan,  and  Bartholomew  Smith, 
he  rode  to  the  Warner  line  to  receive  the  old  warrior,  and  upon  his 
approach  addressed  him,  saying,  "(Jen.  Lafayette,  we  bid  thee 
a  hearty  welcome  to  Bradford."  The  greatest  enthusiasm  prevailed, 
and,  upon  his  arrival  in  the  village,  old  Gen.  Abel  Blood,  arrayed 
in  a  suit  of  regimentals,  became  so  transported  with  emotion  at  the 


46 

sight  of  his  i-mlt-ared  commander,  that  lie  tlung  his  cocked  hat  into 
the  carriage,  striking  Gen.  Lafayette  in  the  face,  but  inflicting  no 
serious  injury.  Lafayette  was  taken  into  the  hall  of  the  Raymond 
House  and  seated  upon  a  platform,  and  the  people  were  presented 
to  him.  When  Gen.  Blood  was  introduced,  Lafayette  grasped  his 
hands  warmly  and  both  veterans  burst  into  tears  as  the  memory 
of  the  olden  time  came  back  to  them.  Gen.  Blood  then  turned  to 
his  revolutionary  compatriot,  Andrew  Aiken,  who  had  annoyed 
him  by  making  light  of  his  prediction  that  Lafayette  would  remem-: 
ber  him,  and  triumphantly  exclaimed,  "There,  old  Aiken,  what 
do  you  think  now?"  Among  others  presented  was  the  late  Col. 
Tappan,  who,  being  then  a  child  of  eight  years,  was  taken  by  Lafay-: 
ette  upon  his  knee  and  held  during  a  part  of  the  ceremony. 

The  militia  of  Bradford  had  attained  to  sufficient  numbers  by  the 
year  1809  to  form  two  companies.  Under  date  of  July  1st,  of  that 
3Tear  there  appears  upon  the  records  a  return  of  the  division  of  the 
company  of  infantry^  in  which  it  is  quaintly  stated  that  at  a  meeting 
duly  held  it  was  "  voted  to  split  the  company  into  two,  and  draw 
the  line  accordingly,  as  followeth,  all  on  the  west  side  of  the  road 
leading  from  Hillsborough  to  Sutton,  together  with  Mr.  Ebenezer 
Cressy  and  Mr.  Asa  Stephens  and  their  households,  to  belong  to 
the  west  company,  and  the  others  to  belong  to  the  east  company." 
It  may  be  inferred  that  at  this  time  the  population  was  about 
equally  divided  by  the  line  of  this  road.  This  return  was  signed 
by  Joshua  Eaton,  Captain.  He  was  the  brother  of  Ebenezer 
Eaton,  before  mentioned,  and  the  father  of  Joshua  and  J.  Hill 
Eaton.  He  was  for  many  years  Captain  of  the  5th  Co.,  30th  Reg- 
iment of  the  militia,  and  was  subsequently  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  major,  by  which  title  he  was  familiarly  known.  He  died  in 
1850,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years.  Among  his  contemporaries 
and  of  about  the  same  age  was  another  prominent  militia  officer, 
the  late  Gen.  Stephen  Hoyt.  He  was  born  in  Hopkinton  in  1769, 
and  in  his  youth  removing  to  Bradford,  married  Phebe,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Deacon  Presbury,  born  in  1772,  and  said  to  be  "the  first 
white  child  born  in  the  town  of  Bradford."  The  accuracy  of  this 
statement  of  course  depends  upon  the  question  whether  Deacon 
Presbury  or  Isaac  Davis  was  the  first  settler.  Gen.  Hoyt  was  a 
man  of  ability  and  enterprise,  a  builder  of  mills  and  other  struc- 
tures, and  a  man  of  influence  in  public  affairs.  The  remains  of  an 
old  canal  upon  which  stood  one  of  his  mills  can  now  be  seen  by  the 
side  of  the  road  leading  from  the  Plain  to  the  Springs.  Some  who 


47 

are  present  may  remember  a  speech  made  by  him  at  Bradford 
Pond  some  thirty  years  ago,  in  which  he  christened  that  sheet  of 
water  "Massassechem  Pond,"  in  honor  of  the  Indian  formerly  living 
upon  its  shore,  and  related  among  his  reminiscences,  that  at  one 
period  there  was  but  one  great  coat  owned  in  the  two  towns  of 
Bradford  and  Fisherslield,  and  which  was  loaned  from  time  to  time 
to  the  several  inhabitants  as  their  necessities  required.  He  lived 
upon  the  road  leading  from  the  Centre  to  the  Plain,  in  the  house 
now  occupied  by  his  grandson,  Elbridge  G.  Hoyt,  which  is  said 
to  be  the  oldest  house  in  town. 

Among  the  soldiers  from  Bradford  in  the  war  of  1812  were  Joseph 
Hartshorn,  John  Harriman,  John  Robbins,  Hazen  Presbury,  George 
Smith,  David  Smith,  and  Eliphalet  Davis.  There  may  have  been 
others,  but  I  have  not  their  names. 

In  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  Bradford  has  every  reason  to  be  proud 
of  its  record.  According  to  Fogg's  gazetteer  the  number  of  sol- 
diers furnished  by  the  town  was  ninety-seven,  of  whom  fifteen 
were  killed  in  battle  or  died  from  the  effects  of  their  service.  Of 
this  number  the  names  of  forty-two  are  given  in  the  History 
of  Merrimack  and  Belknap  Counties.  They  are  Col.  M.  W.  TAP- 
PAN,  DR.  CYRUS  M.  FISKE,  MOSES  J.  SEAVEY,  WILLIS  CRESSY,  JOHN 
LYNN,  NEWTON  CHKNEY,  JOHN  CHOATE,  JUSTUS  DUNBAR,  GEORGE  C. 
SARGENT,  JAMES  HOYT,  HENRY  PRESBURY,  FRANKLIN  PIERCE,  FRANK 
WEST,  CHARLES  M.  GOULD,  MANSEL  BIXBY,  HORACE  BENTON,  JOSEPH 
C.  HOYT,  GEORGE  BENTON,  SAVORY  CHENEY,  JOHN  EATON,  GEORGE 
F.  SMITH,  CYRUS  E.  JONES.  P.  B.  RICHARDS,  HENRY  HOYT,  WILLIAM 
WEST,  EZEKIEL  H.  HADLEY,  Ai  HALL,  Oi  HALL,  PETER  C.  GREGG, 
CHAS.  C.  TAPPAN,  MICAH  C.  HOWE,  CLARENCE  BAILEY,  DAVID  K. 
HAWKS,  MINER  HAWKS,  GEORGE  L.  WARD,  PROCTOR  D.  WARD,  LEVI 
WARD,  CURTIS  DAVIS,  ALBERT  WOODBURY,  HOLLIS  C.  BROCKWAY, 
GEORGE  T.  DUNFIELD,  LEVI  W.  BARNES,  and  TIMOTHY  Z.  SMITH. 

These  men  were  our  representatives  in  the  ranks  of  the  loyal 
host  which  saved  the  republic  and  made  it  free.  Privates  though 
most  of  them  were,  they  are  worthy  of  special  mention  here,  and 
are  each  and  all  entitled  to  our  gratitude  and  homage  for  their 
valor  and  patriotism,  now  and  forever  more.  Bradford  also  had 
the  honorable  distinction  of  furnishing  the  commander  of  the  first 
regiment  of  New  Hampshire  soldiers  who  responded  to  the  call 
of  their  country  in  its  hour  of  peril  and  distress,  our  lamented 
friend  who  is  so  sadly  missed  to-day,  Col.  Tappan.  His  name 
has  been  already  mentioned  here  and  will  be  mentioned  again,  but  I 


48 

should  feel  that  an  essential  part  of  ray  duty  was  undone  if  1  failed 
to  pay  him  my  poor  tribute  also.  He  was  the  schoolmate  of  my 
mother  and  the  life-long  friend  of  my  father.  Of  all  the  men  of 
Bradford,  living  or  dead,  he  was  the  foremost  and  the  most  widely 
known.  His  fame  was  not  limited  to  his  towii,  county,  or  state,  hut 
was  national.  His  residence  here  made  the  name  of  Bradford  famil- 
iar in  distant  places,  where  otherwise  it  would  have  been  unknown. 
In  his  youth  he  enlisted  in  that  grand  movement  which  culminated 
in  the  liberation  of  the  slave.  For  six  years  a  leading  representa- 
tive in  congress,  when  in  the  winter  of  '60 — '61,  rebellion  men- 
aced the  government,  and  many  were  panic-stricken,  as  the  mem- 
ber from  this  state  of  the  special  committee  of  thirty-three  upon 
the  state  of  the  country,  when  the  majority  reported  in  favor 
of  yielding  substantialy  all  that  the  Disunionists  demanded,  he 
joined  with  Cadwallader  C.  Washburn  of  Wisconsin  in  a  dis- 
senting report,  and  defended  his  position  upon  the  floor  of  the 
House  in  a  speech  that  attracted  the  attention  of  the  country  and 
received  the  encomiums  of  leading  men  throughout  the  North. 
History  justified  the  position  he  then  assumed.  When  Lincoln 
called  for  troops,  he  was  fitly  selected  to  lead  the  first  detach- 
ment of  defenders  who  went  from  the  Granite  State.  The  reg- 
iment left  the  State  May  25,  1861,  and  arriving  in  Washington, 
passed  in  review  before  the  president,  who,  sending  for  its  com- 
mander, complimented  him  as  having  the  best  and  most  thoroughly 
appointed  regiment  that  had  thus  far  reached  the  capital,  and  said, 
"Col.  Tappan,  your  regiment  looks  more  like  war  than  anything 
I  have  seen."  This  historic  incident  is  one  which  the  people  of 
Bradford  will  always  remember  with  patriotic  pride  We  all 
deeply  deplore  that  the  life  of  our  honored  townsman  could  not 
have  been  spared  until  this  anniversary.  I  know  the  great  interest 
he  took  in  it.  The  last  time  I  saw  him  was  in  the  Concord  station 
when  returning  from  my  vacation  a  year  ago,  and  our  conversation 
then  was  in  regard  to  this  celebration.  Had  he  lived  to  take  part 
in  it,  he  would  have  been  the  central  figure  of  the  occasion,  as 
he  was  in  every  matter  of  public  interest  here.  He  was  a  natural 
leader  of  men,  gifted  with  the  large  and  active  brain,  the  warm, 
impulsive  heart,  the  magnetic  power,  and  the  force  of  character 
which  produce  leadership.  His  absence  casts  a  shadow  over  our 
exercises  to-day,  relieved,  though  it  be,  by  the  radiance  of  bis 
memory,  which  will  ever  be  tenderly  cherished  by  us  all. 

The   population   of  Bradford   according  to   the   census  taken  in 


41 

1786,  the  year  before  the  incorporation,  was  128.  The  centre  of  the 
town  then  and  for  many  years  thereafter  was  also  the  centre 
of  population.  Here  was  the  meeting-house,  occupied  both  as  a 
church  and  a  town  house ;  here  was  the  first  school-house  standing 
near  it ;  here  was  the  pound  in  which  itinerant  cattle  suffered 
durance  vile,  and  the  walls  of  which  are  still  standing ;  here 
were  the  taverns  and  stores  at  which  the  citizens  were  wont  to  con- 
gregate for  business  and  social  purposes.  The  opening  ol  the 
roads  from  Fishersfield  through  the  north  part  of  the  town  to  War- 
ner and  Heuuiker,  the  establishment  of  stage  lines  thereon,  the, 
•erection  of  the  Bradford  Hotel  and  the  Raymond  House,  the  loca* 
tion  of  the  post  office  at  the  former,  the  building  of  mills  and 
stores  in  its  vicinity,  tended  to  build  up  the  north  part  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  Centre.  The  first  house  at  the  Mill  Village  was  built 
by  Richard  Maxfield,  as  I  am  informed  by  an  old  resident,  and 
was  the  mansion  long  occupied  by  the  late  Squire  Jones.  The 
construction  of  the  railroad  in  1850  contributed  sti'l  more  to  the 
growth  of  the  northern  villages,  and,  by  the  erection  of  stores  arid 
dwellings  near  the  depot,  to  unite  them  into  one.  In  1830  the 
population  of  the  town  had  increased  to  1250,  and  in  1850  to  1341. 
From  this  time  it  has  steadily  declined,  falling  off  in  1860  to  1180 
in  1870  to  1081,  and  in  1880  to  950.  A  similar  decrease  took 
place  during  the  half  century  between  1830  and  1880  in  all  the 
towns  of  Merrimack  County  except  Concord,  Allenstown,  Franklin, 
Hookset  ,  Pembroke,  Pittsfield,  and  Wilmot.  I  presume  the  same 
is  true  of  a  majority  of  the  towns  of  New  Hampshire.  It  affords 
a  fruitful  theme  for  reflection.  It  is  an  evidence  that  the  cities 
are  growing  at  the  expense  of  the  country  towns.  The  greater 
facilities  which  the  former  offer  for  the  acquisition  of  riches,  their 
social  features,  their  activities  and  excitements,  allure  the  fancy 
of  the  young,  and  the  retired  and  quiet  life  of  the  country  becomes 
monotonous  and  wearisome  to  them.  Their  ambitions  are  enkin- 
dled. They  long  to  mingle  in  the  busy,  hurrying  throng,  and  to 
take  their  chances  at  winning  the  tempting  prizes  that  excite  their 
boyish  dreams,  the  deserted  homesteads  passed  in  journeying 
over  our  country  roads  tell  the  story  of  the  depopulating  effects 
of  these  aspirations.  Standing  silent  and  tenantless,  the  doors 
closed,  the  windows  boarded  up  or  broken  in,  the  front  yard  filled 
with  weeds  and  grass,  no  smoke  curling  up  from  the  chimney,  no 
warmth  or  light  within ;  one  of  these  forsaken  houses  forms  a  pa- 
thetic spectacle.  It  fills  the  mind  of  the  observer  with  dreamy 


fancies  as  to  the  persons  who  have  inhabited  it  and  the  scenes  of 
which  it  has  been  the  theater  in  the  past.  He  pictures,  in  his  im- 
agination the  young  couple  who  there  may  have  begun  their  wedded 
life,  the  love  and  joy  that  centered  about  their  early  home,  the 
children  who  enlivened  it  with  the  music  of  their  merry  voices, 
the  social  festivities,  the  huskings,  and  paring  bees,  and  quiltings, 
and  other  gatherings,  when  neighbors  met  to  contribute  their  friend- 
ly services  and  have  a  pleasant  time,  the  thanksgiving  dinners, 
with  their  heavily  laden  tables,  when  the  family,  after  separation, 
were  united  again,  the  bright  wedding  days,  when  relatives  and 
friends  came  to  bring  their  gifts  and  their  greetings  to  bride  and 
bridegroom,  and  those  darker  days,  when  the  family  circle  was 
broken  and  the  house  was  filled  again  with  friends  and  nieghbors 
tendering  their  sympathy  to  those  who  mourned.  The  old  home 
is  now  desolate.  Its  charms,  its  joys  and  sorrows,  have  departed. 
The  original  occupants  are  at  re^t.  Their  descendants  have  gone 
to  seek  their  fortunes  elsewhere.  These  scenes  are  far  too  common 
in  the  rural  districts  of  New  Hampshire.  These  districts  are  being 
drained  to  swell  the  current  of  city  life.  As  the  Merrimack,  whose 
water  power  has  built  up  the  cities  of  Manchester,  Nashua,  Low- 
ell, and  Lawrence,  and  which,  after  ministering  to  their  industries, 
finally  pours  its  wealth  of  waters  into  the  sea,  is  fed  by  numberless 
rivulets  which  issue  from  the  country  hill-sides,  so  the  population 
of  those  cities  and  others  is  largely  made  up  of  contributions  from 
the  hill  towns  of  New  Hampshire  and  the  other  New  England 
States.  They  are  contributions  which  are  vastly  needed  in  those 
cities  to  counteract  the  evil  influences  and  tendencies  which  are  so 
rife  in  every  metropolis.  But  while  they  are  so  needed,  and  while 
the  rapid  growth  of  the  centres  of  population  is  deemed  an  evi- 
dence of  their  prosperity  and  of  the  public  welfare  and  progress, 
it  should  not  be  out  of  proportion  to  the  growth  of  the  country 
towns.  It  was  said  by  Jefferson  that  "When  we  get  piled  upon 
one  another  in  large  cities,  as  in  Europe,  we  shall  become  cor- 
rupt, as  in  Europe."  The  history  of  municipal  government  in 
our  great  cities,  their  business  and  social  characteristics,  the  fierce 
struggles  for  wealth  and  power,  the  pursuit  of  these  objects  re- 
gardless of  the  means  resorted  to  or  of  their  effect  upon  the  public, 
the  defalcations  in  positions  of  trust,  the  chicanery  and  corruption 
in  politics,  the  vanities  and  pretensions  and  shams,  which  take 
all  the  heart  out  of  social  intercourse ;  these  afford  startling  proofs 
of  the  truth  of  Jefferson's  prediction.  To  aid  in  offsetting  the 


51 

.deteriorating  effect  of  these  conditions  upon  our  national  life 
and  character,  the  saving  influences  lhat  emanate  from  our  farm- 
ing towns  and  villages  are  needed.  John  Fiske,  in  his  "American 
Political  Ideas,"  says,  "It  will  be  long.  I  trust,  before  the  sin- 
pie,  earnest  and  independent  type  of  character  that  has  been  nur- 
tured on  the  Blue  Hills  of  Massachusetts  and  the  White  Hills  of 
New  Hampshire  shall  cease  to  operate  like  a  powerful  leaven  upon 
the  whole  of  American  society."  To  multiply  the  examples  and 
extend  the  influence  of  that  type  of  character  is  one  of  the  nation's 
needs  to-day.  New  Hampshire  has  long  been  known  as  a  nur- 
sery of  strong  men.  Born  and  brought  up  amid  the  invigorating 
influences  of  her  mountain  scenery  her  bracing  air,  her  lugged 
farm  life,  her  schools  and  churches,  they  have  gone  forth  to  aid 
in  the  growth  and  progress  of  towns  and  cities  beyond  her  bor- 
ders. What  has  been  a  gain  to  these  outside  localities  has  been 
a  loss  to  the  state.  It  is  a  trite  remark  that  New  Hampshire  is  a 
good  state  to  be  born  in  and  to  emigrate  from.  Too  many  of 
her  young  men  have  accepted  and  acted  upon  that  idea.  This 
tendendency  has  often  been  deplored,  and  with  reason ;  but  how- 
ever much  it  may  be  deprecated,  however  much  the  young  may  be 
urged  to  remain  in  their  native  state  and  give  it  the  benefit  of 
their  talents  and  their  energies,  as  long  as  their  fancies  are  lured 
by  the  invitations  of  ambition,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  these  ex- 
hortations will  be  of  little  avail. 

But  if  they  cannot  be  restrained  from  going  away,  may  they 
at  least  be  prevailed  upon  to  maintain  an  active  interest  in  their 
childhood's  home.  The  moral  nature  of  that  man  who,  however 
much  fortune  may  smile  upon  him  elsewhere,  does  not  retain  a  warm 
place  in  his  heart  for  his  native  town,  is  one  not  to  be  envied. 
Fortunate  are  those  former  residents  of  Bradford  whose  privilege 
it  is  to  revisit  the  town,  to  maintain  a  connection  with  it,  to  keep  up 
their  acquaintance  with  its  people.  Fortunate  are  we  who  are  permit- 
ted to  be  here  to-day  to  join  in  this  celebration,  to  renew  the  friend- 
ships of  other  days,  to  enjoy  the  sweet  train  of  tender  memories 
that  fill  the  mind  amid  these  surroundings.  Our  hearts  to-day  all 
warmly  respond  to  the  familar  lines  of  "The  Old  Oaken  Bucket." 

"How   dear   to  this   heart   are   the  scenes   of  my   childhood, 

When   fond  recollection   presents   them    to   view; 
The   orchard,   the   meadow,    the   deep   tangled    wild   wood, 

And   every    loved    spot   which   my  infancy    knew." 


62 

May  one  of  the  effects  of  this  bappy  festival  be  to  renew 
in  the  minds  of  her  sons  and  daughters  an  interest  in  Bradford, 
and  to  induce  them,  wherever  duty  may  call  them  at  other 
seasons,  to  make  this  their  annual  summer  resting-place.  No- 
where will  you  find  friends  more  glad  to  rejoice  with  you  in  your 
prosperity,  or  more  generous  with  their  neighborly  sympathy 
and  services  when  adversity  and  sorrow  cloud  your  sky.  The 
Granite  State  is  famed  for  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  its  scen- 
ery, and  there  are  few  regions  within  its  borders  where  Nature 
has  been  more  lavish  with  her  charms  than  here.  The  stranger 
is  always  impressed  with  them.  How  much  greater  and  dearer 
they  seem  to  us  who  view  them  through  the  magnifying  glass 
of  old  associations  and  recollections. 

While  the  permanent  population  of  the  town  may  not  gain, 
the  yearly  visits  of  its  children,  who  are  still  loyal  to  the  mem- 
ory of  home  and  kindred,  should  make  it  a  populous  and 
prosperous  summer  resort  at  least. 

As  we  stand  to-day  upon  the  dividing  line  between  the  old 
century  and  the  new  in  Bradford's  history,  as  we  realize  the 
extent  of  our  indebtedness  to  the  town,  to  its  institutions,  its 
influences,  its  people,  for  what  we  are  and  what  we  hope  to 
be,  as  we  bear  in  mind  how  the  desire  and  determination  to 
do  nothing  which  could  bring  any  stain  upon  its  escutcheon 
as  our  birth  place  has  served  as  one  of  the  motives  to  right 
conduct,  as  we  remember  how  much  of  the  brightness  that  has 
illumined  and  gladdened  our  lives  has  come  from  its  sunshine, 
as  we  are  impressed  anew  with  a  sense  of  its  attractions  and 
of  its  hold  upon  our  affections,  our  sentiments  towards  the 
dear  old  place  may  well  find  utterance  in  the  words  of  another 
addressed  to  his  native  New  England: — 

"Stern  land!   we   love  thy   woods   and    rocks, 

Thy  rushing  streams  and  wintry   glooms, 
And   memory,   like   a   pilgrim   gray, 

Kneels  at  thy  temples  and  thy   tombs; 
The   thoughts   of   thee,    where  e'er   we   dwell, 
Gome  o'er  us   like   a   holy  spell, 

A   star   to   light   our   path   of   tears,  ^ 

A   rainbow   on   the   sky   of  years."  .      .•    • 


DECLAMATION: 

BY  ALLEN  CRESSY,   OLDEST  CITIZEN  OF   BRADFORD. 
ON    THE   DEATH   OF    GEN.   GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 


The  senate  of  the  United  States  respectfully  take  leave,  sir,  to  ex- 
press to  you  their  deep  regret  for  the  loss  their  country  sustains  in 
the  death  of  General  George  Washington.  This  event,  so  distressing 
to  our  fellow  citizens  must  be  peculiarly  heavy  to  you  who  have  long 
been  associated  with  him  in  deeds  of  patriotism.  Permit  me,  sir,  to 
mingle  my  tears  with  yours;,  on  this  occasion  it  is  manly  to  weep. 
To  lose  such  a  man,  at  such  a  crisis,  is  no  common  calamity  to  the 
world.  Our  country  mourns  her  father.  The  Almighty  disposer  of 
human  events  has  taken  from  us  our  greatest  ornament  and  benefac- 
tor, and  it  becomes  us  to  submit  with  reverence  to  Him  who  maketh 
darkness  His  pavilion.  With  patriotic  pride  we  review  the  life  of 
our  Washington  and  compare  him  with  those  of  other  countries 
who  have  been  pre-eminent  with  him  in  fame.  Ancient  and  mod- 
ern names  are  demolished  before  him.  Greatness  and  guilt  have  too 
often  been  allied,  but  his  fame  is  WHITER  than  it  is  BRILLIANT.  The 
destroyers  of  nations  stood  abashed  at  the  majesty  of  his  virtue;  it 
reproved  the  intemperance  of  their  ambition  and  hid  in  darkness 
the  splendor  of  their  victories. 

The  scene  is  now  closed,  and  we  are  no  more  anxious  lest  mis- 
fortune should  sully  his  glory;  he  has  traveled  on  to  the  end  of  his 
journey  and  carried  with  him  an  increasing  weight  of  honor,  he  has 
deposited  it  safely  where  misfortune  cannot  tarnish  it —  where  malice 
cannot  blast  it.  Favored  of  heaven,  he  departed  without  exhibiting 
the  weaknesses  of  humanity.  Magnanimous  in  death,  the  darkness 
of  the  grave  could  not  obscure  his  brightness. 

Such  was  the  man  whose  death  we  deplore.  Thanks  to  God  his 
glory  is  consummated.  Washington  yet  lives  on  earth,  in  his  spot- 
less example.  His  spirit  is  in  heaven.  Let  our  countrymen  con- 
secrate the  memory  of  the  heroic  general,  the  patriotic  statesman,  the 
virtuous  sage.  Let  them  teach  their  children  never  to  forget  that 
the  fruits  of  his  labors  and  his  example  are  their  inheritance. 

The  above  was  a  declamation  spoken  by  Mr.  Cressy,  in  his  school  days,  and  was  a 
tribute  from  MEMORY  to  our  celebration. 


POEM. 

By  Annette  M.   R.  Cressy. 


Throughout   the   listening  ages  swells 
Creation's  anthem,   sweet  and  strange; 

Its  melody    of  changeless   love 
Rings  clear  through  varying  chords  of  change. 

On  every   handiwork   of  God 

He  writes  this  key-note   of  His  power; 
On  stately  aeons  of  the  spheres, 

On  insect  life   of  one  brief  hour. 

The  sun  remote  in   lonely  space, 
Lives  by  the   life  of  other  suns; 

And   in   the   dust   beneath   our  feet 
The  same  eternal   kinship   runs. 

Linked  by  the  golden   bond   that  thrills 
From   God  to   planet,  star,   or  earth, 

Each   tiniest  product   of  His   hand, 
He  draws  and   holds  by   tie   of  birth. 

And  we,  the  children   of  His  care, 
Held   closely  by  that  tie  divine, 

Securely  tread   life's  hidden  way, 

Content,  though  skies  may  frown  or  shine. 

We  backward  gaze   through   circling  years, 
And  note  their  seeming  change  and  chance; 

The  garnered   knowledge  of  the  past 
We  use  as  our  inheritance. 


The   round  world   yields  us   revenue; 

All   times,   all   climes  glad   tribute   bring; 
All   lands   lie   open   to  our  feet; 

All   seas   make   paths  for  wandering. 

And   while   we  claim   all  Nature   kin, 
And  widely  rove,   as   ocean   free, 

Our  birthplace   draws   our  willing   hearts, 
As  silver  moon   doth   sway  the   sea. 

And   when,   with   years   and   honors   filled, 
Our  fair  town  mother  calls   us   here, 

And   bids   us  celebrate   the   day 
That  crowns   her  glad   centennial   year, 

With  joyful   reverence   we   come, 
And   on   her  altars,   offerings   lay;- 

Tributes  of  love   and   tender  praise, 
And   blessings   on   her   natal   day. 

And   in   the  brightness   of  this   hour 

Our  wakened   hopes  and   memories   throw 

Long  lines  of  light   athwart   the   past, 
The   mystic   time  of  Long  Ago. 

Far  back   where  fact   and   fiction  blend 
In   lines  as  dim   as   bounds   at  sea; 

Where  legends  bold   and   fancies  fair, 
Forecast  the   history  to  be. 

Before   the  woodman's   ringing  axe 
Sent  shuddering  echoes   through   the   hills, 

Or  cleft   their  forest   armor  deep 
With   wounds  the   healing  sunlight   fills. 

When   smiled   the   far   blue   sky   above, 
And   sun-kissed   earth   in   silence   lay, 

Gemmed   with   the   dewy  stars   of  night, 
Clad   in   the   flowery  sheen   of  day. 


56 


Green  woods  the  rounded   hill-tops  crown; 

Green  woods  the  valleys  thickly  press; 
Blue  lake,  and  brooks  of  rippling  light, 

Accent   the  unbroken  wilderness. 

In   leafy  covert  crouched   the  deer, 
Unchallenged   prowled   the  stealthy  bear; 

Shy,  wild   life  peopled  all  the  shades, 
And  jubilant  bird-songs  filled  the  air. 

The  echoes  of  the  hills  gave  back 
The  tramp  of  beast  and  whirr  of  wing; 

Shouted   the  wind's  triumphant  blast, 
And   whispered   of  the   babbling  spring. 

Unnoticed   turns   the  wheel   of  time; 

And,  into  widespread   solitudes 
Comes  human  life,  as  closely  kin 

As  beast  or  bird,  to  Nature's  moods. 

Threading  the  tangled  forest  aisles, 
The   Indian  marks  unerring  course; 

To  live,   he  wages   war  on   life; 
With  craft  he  overmatches  force. 

Silent  as  shade  of  passing  bird, 

His   light   canoe  glides  o'er  the   lake; 

From   whitening  rock,   his   fitful   fires 
On  night's  dark  shield   like  lances  break. 

And  ever  from  the  ripening  time 

Some  vantage  ground  each  new  year  wins; 
The  stir  of  dawn  thrills  through  the  night; 

Myth  ends,  and  history  begins. 

Where  once  the  vagrant  wigwam  fires 
Curled  lazy  smoke  wreaths  in  the  air, 

The  settler's  ruddy  hearth  stone  glowed, 
And  heart  and  home  were  anchored  there. 


"The  "wide  hill  slopes  are  'flush  with  light, 
Where  stood  thick  serried  troqps  of  trees; 

Where  forests  wrestled  with  the  storm, 
Ripe  .gram  nods  gaily  to  the  breeze. 

The  brook  that  crept  with  timid  song 
Beneath  dense,  overhanging  shade, 

Now,  dimpling,  woos  the  zephyr's  kiss, 
And  laughs  with  sunbeams,  -unafraid. 

Not  easily  is  victory  won.; 

Defiant  nature  slowly  yields; 
In  want  and  hardship,  pain  and  death, 

Exacts  the  cost  of  harvest  fields. 

The  settler's  days  brim  o'er  with  toil, 
His  nights  are  thick  with  lurking  fears$ 

Yet  sturdily  he  waits  and  prays; 

His  hopes  new  blossom  with  the  years. 

Sullen  and  slow  the  savage  beast 

Retires  before  the  white  man's  sway; 

Until  within  his  very  lair, 

Fearless,  the  laughing  children  play. 

The  wily  Indian  meets  his  doom; 

His  empire  falls,  his  race  is  run; 
And,  driven  from  his  father's  home. 

He  seeks  the  ever  setting  sun. 

He  early  fades  from  history; 
Some  lingering  memories  unlock 

Oblivion's  pages;  we  recall 
The  whispered  tale  of  Old  Pete's  Rock. 

And   linger  reverently  where 
On  shore  of  Massasecum   Lake, 

The  chief,  sole  remnant  of  his  tribe, 
In  silence  let  his  lone  heart  break. 

8 


Only  a  barren  rock  remained 
Of  heritage  once  fair  and  large ; 

Yet  still  his  lonely  watch-fires  shone 
From  Old  Gile's  Hill  to  far  Kearsarge. 

Till  death  he  fed  his  signal  fire; 

To  yon  fair  lake,  he  held  his  claim 
Unquestioned;  in  his  memory, 

We  call  the  water  by  his  name. 

Fast  fading  into  fancies  vague, 

Dim  legends  haunt  our  woodlands  still; 
Each  step  by  phantom  foot  is  trod, 

From  Haystack  grim  "to  John  Brown's  Hill. 

Long  vanished  forms,  forgotten  lives, 
On  ghostly  trails  keep  company 

Along  the  sunny  vales  that  stretch 
From  Bible  Hill  to  Sunapee. 

But  records  clearer  shine  that  form 
Of  our  forefathers'  lives  a  part; — 

The  daring  deed,  the  patient  hope, 
The  suffering  borne  by  dauntless  heart, 

Where,  wrested  from  the  granite  hills, 
The  field  its  bannered  corn  uprears, 

And  arms  its  ranks  of  ripening  wheat 
With  shining  points  of  golden  spears. 

Along  our  sunny  upland  slopes, 
That  cover  Nature's  fire-scarred  breast, 

We  reap  the  guerdon  of  their  toil; 
Our  happy  homes  are  their  bequest. 

All  honor  to  our  pioneers! 

First  settlers  of  our  mother  town! 
We  render  homage  to  the  names 

Of  Presbury,  Eaton,  Hoyt,  and  Brown. 


Davis  and  Smith,  and  many  more, 
Whose  children's  children  here  abide, 
And  look  on  broad,  ancestral  farms 
With  quickened  pulse  and  honest  pride. 

We   almost   touch   those  early   lives; 

Our  veterans   may  remember  yet 
The   martial  songs   of  General   Blood, 

The  army  tales  of  Abram  Sweatt. 

And   General   Hoyt,   whose   tuneful  voice 
Adds   sweetness   to   his   fair   renown; 

And    Ebenezer  Cressy,   first 

To  represent  his  new   born   town. 

And   one  whose   life   has  almost   spanned 
The   changes   of  these  hundred  years: 

Who  shared  their  struggles,  helped  their  growth, 
Lived   in   their  varying   hopes  and   fears, 

Lives  in  their   retrospection   still; 

Whose  thoughts  an  old  time  fragrance  shed; 
May  crowning  years  and  time's  last  touch, 

Rest   liglit   on   Allen   Cressy's   head. 

And   thus   with   living   links  we   bind 

That  far-off  past  to  present  days; 
The   thick   set   memories   of  years, 

Blossom  along  our  common  ways; — 

A  mingled  breath  of  balm  and  rue, — 
Perfume  of  sweet  and  bitter  flowers; 

The  lot  of  one  is  the  lot  of  all; 

Each  day  has  noon  and  midnight  hours. 

Each  life  its  share  of  gloom  has  known; 

Its  brimming  cup  of  joy  has  pressed; 
Has  seen  the  roses  of  its  love 

Grow  pale  and  fade  on  pulseless  breast. 


To-day  we  gaze  on  fruitful'  fields, 

On  meadow  stretches,  green  and  fair,- — 

The  heritage  our  fathers  gave, — 
The  harvest  of  their  lifetong  care. 

They  taught  us  Row  to  strive  and  wait,. 

From  fates  adverse  to  win  success; 
Their  sturdy  truth  we  venerate, 

Their  high  integrity  we  bless. 

And  holier  legacies  are  ours, 
That  deeper  yet  our  pulses  thrill;- 

We  look  on  stately  stones  that  lise 
Like  seufptured'  lilies,,  tall   and   still,. 

O'er  low,  green  beds  of  silent  dust, 
The   last   embrace  of  mother  earth; 

Where   lie   the  loves  and  hopes   that  hold 
Our  hearts  more   true   than   tie  of  birth. 

O  sacred  earth!  with  weary  hearts 
Thy  children   come   to   thee   for  rest? 

Our   loved   ones  slipping  from   our  holdr 
We've   lain  within   thy  faithful  breast, 

Perhaps   a  little,   laughing  child, 
A  tender  husband,  cherished  wifer 

A  mother,  teaching   Heaven's   own   lovey 
A  father,  whose  untarnished  life 

Remains  a  blest  inheritance; 

Who   lived   to   help  some   other   live; 
The  worth   of  honest   toil   to   show, 

The  wealth   of  true    good-will   to  give. 

O'er  many  a  mound  the  colors  wave 
For  which   our  soldiers  bravely   died; 

A   country  crowns  their  sacrifice, 
A   nation   shares   our   loyal   pride. 


Our   dead   are  near  us  still;   for  death 
Is  but  a  bend   in   the  current   swift, 

And    Faith's   clear   light   is   shining   through 
The   veil   our  hands   may   not  yet  lift. 

And   steadily   we    make    our  way 
To .  where   they   wait  us  farther   on; 

Their   brows   with    God's   near   sunlight   glow; 
Their  feet  tread   Heaven's   eternal   dawn. 

Thus   filled   with    hopes   and    memories, 
The  countless  years   of  time   roll   round; 

The  burden   of  their  song  the   same, 
Throughout   creation's   endless   bound. 

From   good,   through   better,   on   to  best, 
From    the    clinging   dust   to  the   skies   above; 

One   bond   of  birth   connecting  all, — 
The   bond   of  God's   eternal    love. 

And   ever  on   the   storm-cloud's  edge, 
Gleam   promised  hues   of  rainbow   arch; 

And   through   the   dirge   of  centuries   past, 
Rings   future   centuries'    triumph    march! 


RESPONSE     TO     SENTIMENT, 

"The    Anglo     Saxon     character —    still     persistent 
and    unchanging." 

By  E.  Warren  Smith. 


MR.  PRESIDENT,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN:— 

A  good    many  years  ago  I  learned   a  little   verse  that  runs 
like  this: — 

"Of  all   the   countries  far   and   near, 
I   count   my   native   land   most  dear; 
Of  all   the   cities  east   or   west, 
I  love   my  native   town   the   best." 

And  it  is  in  this  spirit  I  have  come  back  to  you  to-day.  It  is 
true,  sir,  that  J  was  not  born  in  this  town,  but  I  grew  to  man- 
hood on  one  of  your  farms;  I  received  the  most  of  my  education 
in  your  schools;  I  learned  the  lessons  of  faith  and  hope  in  your 
churches,  and  I  have  buried  some  of  the  dearest  ones  of  earth 
in  your  cemetery:  and  while  I  can  always  respond  most  heartily 
to  the  sentiment,  "Massachusetts,  God  bless  her!"  my  heart  turns 
loyally  back  to  the  old  Granite  State  and  my  native  town  of 
Bradford. 

Mr.  President,  we  have  met  to-day  to  honor  our  ancestors  of 
one  hundred  years  ago,  and  it  was  especially  appropriate  in  your 
committee  to  honor  the  parent  stock  of  our  branch  of  the  Cau- 
casian race  by  this  sentiment,  "Anglo  Saxon  character."  I  wish, 
sir,  I  had  the  ability  to  speak  to  this  as  it  deserves,  but  you  could 
not  have  assigned  me  a  part  to  which  I  would  rather  answer 
than  this.  It  is  true  that  in  this  democratic  age,  whatever  may 
be  a  man's  ancestry  he  wil  have  to  stand  or  fall  by  his  own 
record;  but  it  is  also  true  that  the  influence  of  a  noble  ancestry 
is  of  wonderful  power  in  giving  us  a  good  "send  off"  in  the  race 
of  life;  and  our  noble  ancestry,  going  back  many  centuries,  has 
had  a  wonderful  influence  in  the  growth  of  the  American  nation. 


63 

It  was  in  the  fifth  or  sixth  century  that  the  Saxons,  a  powerful 
race  from  central  Europe,  crossed  the  North  Sea  and  conquered  the 
Britons,  driving  part  into  Wales  and  Scotland,  and,  mixing  with 
the  rest,  they  held  the  island  for  many  centuries,  and  from 
the  union  of  these  two  races  has  come  our  Anglo  Saxon  race.  The 
Saxons  were  a  bold,  hardy,  sea-faring  people,  always  ready 
for  a  fight,  with  no  law  but  the  law  of  might;  and  although  by 
the  standard  of  this  age  we  should  reckon  them  as  barbarians, 
they  nevertheless  made  progress,  so  that  uhen  they  were  con- 
quered by  the  Normans  in  in  the  eleventh  century  they  retained 
their  language,  and  to-day  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  words  we  use 
are  derived  from  the  old  Saxon  tongue.  But  it  is  more  of  the 
old  Anglo  Saxon,  or  English,  of  one  or  two  centuries  ago  that 
I  wish  to  speak.  Senator  Wadleigh  most  truly  said  that  the 
world  had  made  more  progress  in  the  last  century  than  in  the 
previous  thousand  years:  and  impartial  history  will  record  the 
fact  that  the  Anglo  Saxon,  the  English,  the  Anglo  American, 
have  done  more  to  benefit  the  human  race  than  all  others  com- 
bined. 

I  was  taught  in  my  childhood  to  hate  the  name  of  English- 
man. One  of  the  nursery  rhymes  taught  me  was: — 

"Fi«,    fee,    fo    fum; 

I   smell   the   blood   of  an   Englishman; 

Dead   or   alive   I'll  have   some." 

The  reason  for  this  is  readily  found  in  the  fact  that  the  heroes 
of  our  two  wars  with  England  were  then  living  and  gave  tone 
to  public  feeling.  Since  that  time,  Mr.  President,  I  have  learned 
two  things,  among  others:  first,  never  to  adopt  others' prejudices; 
and  second,  never  to  hate  so  bad  but  that  I  can  love  afterwards, 
nor  love  so  strongly  but  that  I  can  hate  if  occasion  comes. 

Since  that  time  the  steam  engine  and  the  telegraph  have  come 
to  the  front  to  make  neighbors  and  friends  out  'of  nations,  who 
were  only  too  ready  to  kill  and  destroy.  England  has  done  many 
cruel,  outrageous  things,  but  she  is  our  old  mother,  nevertheless; 
and  remembering  that  we,  too,  haven't  always  done  right,  it  ill 
becomes  us  to  be  too  censorious  against  a  parent  with  whom  we 
have  so  much  in  common. 

When  the  fullness  of  time  had  come,  God  sifted  all  Europe  to 
find  the  seed  he  planted  America  with,  the  largest  part  coming 
from  England;  and,  when  in  after  years  she  undertook  to  chas- 


64 

tise  and  conquer  us,  if  ever  nation  was  blessed  in  defeat  and   hu- 
miliation,  hers   was  that  case. 

Since  then,  England  and  America,  mother  and  daughter,  have 
grown  together  these  hundred  years,  each  aiding  the  other,  and 
neither  at  the  other's  expense,  till  their  common  language  is 
heard  the  world  over,  and  thtir  benign  influence  is  a  blessing  to 
the  oppressed  of  all  nations.  England  will  yet  give  to  Ireland 
the  rights  so  long  withheld,  the  same  as  we  gave  freedom  to  the 
African  after  long  yearn  of  oppression;  and  when  we  drink  to 
the  health  of  His  Excellency,  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
our  next  toast  shall  be,  ''Long  live  Queen  Victoria,"  the  noble 
woman  who  made  virtue  honorable  and  vice  disreputable  at  the 
court  of  St.  James,  and  has  always  been  our  warm  and  steadfast 
friend. 

There  is  one  feature  of  the  Anglo  Saxon  character  without  a 
parallel  in  any  other  nation;  I  refer  to  the  faculty  to  successfully 
colonize  till  the  sun  does  not  go  down  on  the  English  flag 
Other  nations  have  attempted  the  same  thing,  but  it  has  always 
been  at  the  expense  of  both  parent  and  child.  I  would  not  for- 
get the  important  part  which  the  Irishman,  the  German,  and  oth- 
er European  nationalities  are  taking  in  our  civilization.  A  race 
that  can  furnish  an  Andrew  Jackson  and  Phil.  Sherridan,  or 
a  Sigel  and  Carl  Schurz,  will  outstrip  us  in  the  race  of  life 
unless  we  recognize  the  fact  that  "eternal  vigilance"  is  the 
price  of  all  our  success. 

The  future  historian  will  have  no  need  to  go  back  to  Greece 
and  Rome  for  great  characters  and  illustrious  deeds,  for  when 
England  can  furnish  a  Cromwell,  a  Wellington,  a  Wilberforce, 
and  a  Gladstone;  and  America  can  name  a  Washington,  a 
Jackson,  a  Lincoln,  and  a  Grant,  to  inspire  the  Christian  and 
the  patriot,  the  English  speaking  race  will  be  invincible. 

Mr.  President,  we  cannot,  if  we  would,  and  I  would  not,  if  I 
could,  put  up  any  bars  to  make  this  country  other  than  a 
home  for  the  oppressed  of  all  nations;  and  it  only  remains  for 
every  well  \visher  of  his  country  to  do  all  in  his  power  to 
make  good  American  citizens  of  them  all,  remembering  that  the 
corner  stoue  of  true  democracy  is,  to  "do  to  others  as  ye 
would  that  they  should  do  to  you." 

The  transplanting  of  the  Anglo  Saxon  to  American  soil  was 
attended  with  thn  most  marvelous  results  for  good  to  the  hu- 
man race,  and  the  same  results  are  now  being  attained  in  the 


es 

transplanting  of  our  sons  and  daughters  to  the  great  West, 
for  in  them,  in  their  new  homes,  we  recognize  the  highest  type 
of  the  American  citizen  and  the  Christian  patriot:  and  we  are 
proud  to  claim  them  as  our  descendants  and  our  friends  and 
members  of  our  common  country. 

There  is  one  common  enemy  to  our  prosperity  and  civiliza- 
tion, which  good  men  and  wom^n  of  the  North,  South,  East, 
and  West,  must  combine  to  abolish  or  control,  or  our  sun  will 
go  down  in  darkness.  I  refer  to  the  grog-shop,  the  pest-house  of 
our  age,  the  breeder  of  political  corruption,  and  the  destroy- 
er of  our  young  men.  The  signs  of  the  times  portend  that  this 
will  be  the  question  which  shall  unite  the  South  and  the  North 
in  common  defense,  and  gladden  the  heart  of  every  Christian 
and  patriot  in  the  wide  world,  in  a  victory  for  the  right. 


RESPONSE     TO     SENTIMENT. 
"The  Physicians  of  Bradford." 


The  person  selected  to  respond  being  absent,  the  duty  has  been 
assigned  to  the  writer. 

Dr.  William  C.  Martin  was  the  first.  He  came  from  Weare, 
N.  H.  and  settled  just  over  the  line  in  Sutton,  N.  H.  about 
1794  or  1795,  about  one  half  mile  from  Bradford  Corner,  a  short 
distance  only  from  where  Mr.  D.  Moody  Morse,  one  of  the  select- 
men, now  lives.  For  a  term  of  years  he  was  the  only  physician 
practicing  in  Bradford,  as  many  aged  people  in  the  past  have 
testified.  Dr.  Willim  Martin  was  the  father  of  one  of  our  old- 
est citizens,  the  late  William  Martin:  and  his  descendants  of 
the  third  generation,  Frank  L.  Martin  and  Horace  K.  Martin, 
well  known  to  the  people  of  this  town. 

Dr.  Henry  Lyra  an  was  the  next;  he  came  from  Warner  and 
was  noted  as  a  surgeon. 

Dr  Jason  H.  Ames  was  a  former  partner  and  finally  the  suc- 
cessor of  Dr.  Lyman.  His  period  of  service  covered  nearly  fifty 
years;  he  was  a  very  faithful  aud  successful  physician;  his  de- 
scendants are  well  known. 


Dr.  David  Mitchell  from  Peterborough  settled  in  Bradford"  Cen- 
tre, practiced  about  ten  years,  and  died ;  he  was  succeeded  by 
Dr.  Frederick  Mitchell,  his  brother,  but  he  did  not  remain  long. 

Dr.  Harvey  Studley  came  soon  after  Frederick  Mitchell,  lived 
and  died  in  the  first  house  west  of  the  Sawyer  place,  be  died  Octo- 
ber 15,  1830,  aged  forty-one. 

Dr.  Colby  came  from  IIennikerT  and  lived  a  year  or  more  in  the 
Eben  Cressy  house,  at  Bradford  Centre.  Dr.  Weston  was  the  nextT 
living  in  the  Cressy  House  about  ten  years. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  George  II.  Hubbard  of  Button,  a  grad- 
uate of  the  Vermont  Medical  College ;  he  was  a  regimental  and  brig- 
ade surgeon  in  the  late  war,  and  a  skillful  and  popular  physician, 

Dr.  David  F.  Hale  died  at  Bradford,  December  7,  1848. 

Dr.    Morgan  lived   about  two  years  in   the  Mrs.  West  house. 

Dr.    Stickney  also  practiced  a  short  time  in   this  town. 

Dr.  C.  M.  Fiske  lived  at  the  Mills  15  or  twenty  years,  and  had 
an  extended  practice ;  finally  moved  to  Lowell,  Mass,  where  a 
large  field  of  labor  was  open  to  him.  Dr.  Fiske  succeeded  Dr. 
Doten. 

Next  was  Dr.  Nathaniel  Clark,  sold  out  to  Dr.  J.  H.  Martin, 
and  Dr.  Martin  sold  out  to  Dr.  J.  B.  Raynes  Nov.  1882. 

Dr.  Charles  A.  Carlton  succeeded  Dr.  J.  H.  Ames  ;  who  finally 
moved  to  Salem,  Mass.,  where  he  has  a  lucrative  business. 

Dr.  .John  M.  Fitz  practiced  here  several  years  until  his  health 
utterly  failed. 

Dr.  Eben  Harriman  Davis,  son  of  tSamuel  Davis  of  this  town,  read 
medicine  with  Dr.  George  H.  Hubbard ;  he  was  a  successful  and 
popular  physician,  and  a  graduate  of  the  Vermont  Medical  College, 
and  settled  in  Manchester,  N.  H.  He  was  a  great-grandson  of  Isaac 
Davis,  who  settled  in  the  east  part  of  Bradford  A.  D.  1762.  He 
went  into  the  army  as  surgeon  of  a  New  Hampshire  regiment  and 
was  brigade  surgeon  before  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion. 

Dr.  John  Milton  Hawks  removed  from  this  town  and  began 
practice  in  Manchester,  N.  H.  He  lives  now  in  Hawk's  Park 
Florida. 

Dr.  Samuel  Woodbury  Jones,  son  of  Samuel  Jones,  fitted  for  the 
Medical  College  under  the  instruction  of  Dr.  G.  H.  Hubbard,  was  a 
graduate  of  the  Vermont  Medical  College,  and  entered  the  practice 
of  his  profession  in  Manchester,  N.  H.  as  a  partner  of  Dr.  E.  H. 
Davis,  and  continued  with  him  several  years. 

Dr.  Diamond  Davis,  uncle  of  Dr.  E.  H.  Davis  and   son   of   Dan- 


67 

iel  Davis  and  Mary  Brown  Davis ;  lived  first  where  William  A, 
Carr  now  lives.  He  was  a  successful  physician  and  surgeon, 
and  practiced  many  years  in  Sutton,  where  he  died. 

Dr.  Seth  Straw  Jones,  brother  of  Samuel  Woodbury  Jones,  grad* 
uated  at  the  same  college. 

Dr.  Farley  studied  with  Dr,  Lyman  at  the  Corner. 

Dr.  Reuben  Hatch  came  from  Hillsborougb  and  practiced  at  the 
Mills  one  year —  from  1837  to  1838. 

Dr.  Doten  practiced  medicine  in  town  six  years  and  then  went 
to  Manchester. 

Dr.  Levi  Ward,  a  native  of  Bradford,  practiced  medicine  here 
for  years ;  he  is  now  located  at  Lake  Village,  N.  H. 

Dr.  Pascal  B.  Richards  has  practiced  medicine  in  town  nearly 
twenty-five  years,  and  has  performed  wonderful  cures. 

Dr.  J.  B.  Raynes  has  sold  out  to  Dr.  Wallace  and  removed  to 
Lebanon,  N.  H. 


RESPONSE     TO     SENTIMENT, 
"The  Past  of  Bradford  contrasted  with  the  Present." 

By  Dr.    J.    M.    Hawks. 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  FRIENDS  :— 

This  has  been  a  wonderful  town  meeting.  The  Town  Clerk  must 
have  given  a  legal  warning,  and  all  political  parties  must  have 
brought  out  all  their  voters.  The  last  "March  meeting"  I  attended 
in  this  town  was  in  the  old  "town  house"  fifty  years  ago.  I 
remember  the  ring  of  wrestlers  there,  and  the  flat  cakes  of  ginger- 
bread I  bought  there  ;  I  have  never  since  tasted  any  cake  that  seemed 
quite  so  good  as  that.  This  town  meeting  is  a  great  improvement 
on  that  one  in  several  respects ;  the  greatest  improvement  and  the 
most  notable  and  agreeable  features  in  this  meeting  are  the  features 
of  the  ladies  ;  they  didn't  vote  or  go  to  town  meetings  when  I  was  a 
boy. 

A  century  of  town  history  is  a  rich  harvest  field  for  the  histo- 
rian, the  orator,  and  poet.  Our  orators,  historians,  and  poet  to-day, 
as  reapers  in  that  field,  have  done  their  work  so  thoroughly  that  the 
task  of  those  who  follow  them  is  rendered  light  indeed  ;  and  we  who 
come  after  as  gleaners  in  the  field  may  well  be  content  if  we  can 
pick  up  here  and  there  a  scattering  stalk  or  head  of  grain. 


68 

It  is  but  a  little  over  a  century  since  a  dense  forest  like  that  on 
Sunapee  Mountains  yonder,  covered  this  whole  region  for  miles- 
around.  Bears,  wolves,  and  deer  roamed  over  these  grounds  along 
where  these  village  streets  now  run,  with  nothing  to  fear  but  the 
flint-headed  arrows  of  the  Indian  hunter.  Around  this  peaceful 
valley  stood  these  everlasting  hills  in  their  evergreen  mantles  of 
hemlock,  spruce,  and  pine ;  yonder  the  sparkling  water  of  the 
brooks  hastened  downward  to  the  river  and  to  the  sea ;  farther  away 
lay  the  glassy  lake,  reflecting  the  sunshine,  the  moonlight,  and  star- 
light that  fell  on  its  bosom,  reflecting  the  picture  of  the  bold, 
rock-bound  and  cedar-crowned  brow  of  G lie's  Hill,  and  the  tall 
pines  that  stood  along  its  southern  sandy  shore  ;  a  veritable  mirror, 
before  which  the  wild  flowers  on  it*  banks  made  their  daily  toilet 
in  summer  time,  and  modestly  blushed  at  their  own  beauty  and 
loveliness. 

The  only  traces  of  human  beings  in  all  this  waste  of  woods 
were  the  faint  trail  and  the  unfrequented  camping  ground  of  Mas- 
sassechem,  the  Indian  hunter,  who  lived  for  a  while  and  finally 
died  near  the  lake  and  the  great  rock,  both  of  which  bear  his  name 
to  this  day. 

But  no  condition  on  earth  is  permanent ;  to  change  is  the  fate 
of  all  created  things ;  and  change  was  about  to  come  over  the 
spirit  of  this  quiet  dream.  Into  the  heart  of  this  thick  forest,  with 
its  damp,  forbidding  shadows,  a  man  and  his  family  came  to  make 
themselves  a  home.  We  may  fancy  the  glad  surprise  of  the  old 
inhabitants  on  every  hand  at  this  new  arrival ;  and  how  the  hills 
and  the  trees  stood  still  in  breathless  surprise,  watching  the  move- 
ments of  this  new  stranger,  as  he  took  up  his  flint  and  steel  and 
struck  the  spark  into  his  tinder-box,  and  kindled  the  first  kitchen 
fire  ever  built  in  the  wilds  of  New-Bradford. 

That  fire-place  was  an  altar  of  incense,  and  the  priest  at  that  altar 
was  our  first  settler,  Deacon  William  Presbury ;  and  as  the  smoke 
rose  up  through  the  tree-tops  and  floated  off  over  the  forest,  the 
very  hills  shouted  in  gladness ;  the  brooks  and  lakes  rejoiced,  and 
all  the  forest  trees  clapped  their  hands  for  joy.  Nature  had  worked 
and  waited  for  this  event  for  untold  centuries,  and  now  the  hour 
had  struck ;  civilized  man,  the  master  of  the  world,  had  come  to 
take  possession  of  his  own  :  and  so  Bradford  became  a  settled  town. 

Other  settlers  came,  and  the  population  increased ;  but  for  fifty 
years  there  was  hard  work  for  them  in  carving  out  their  farms  from 
the  primeval  woods,  and  in  facing  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life. 


69 

Instead  of  the  music  of  parlor  organs  and  pianos,  they  heard  the 
whirr  of  spinning  wheels  and  the  racket  of  looms.  They  had  no 
time  to  study  books  or  read  newspapers,  and  no  books  or  papers 
to  read,  even  if  they  had  had  ever  so  much  spare  time.  In  common 
with  the  rest  of  the  world,  this  good  old  town  has  made  the  great- 
est progress  in  the  last  half  of  the  century  which  closes  to-day. 
Bradford  has  given  to  other  towns  and  other  states  more  able 
men  than  other  states  and  towns  have  given  to  her.  Former 
pupils  in  her  public  schools  are  now  living  in  almost  every  state 
and  territory,  where,  as  lawyers,  doctors,  private  citizens,  school 
teachers,  or  merchants,  they  are  helping  to  shape  the  destinies 
of  great  commonwealths.  Bradford,  as  a  New  Hampshire  town, 
has  furnished  more  than  her  average,  or  quota,  of  represent- 
atives and  senators  in  the  congress  of  the  United  States ;  and  a 
Bradford  boy  to-day  stands  hard  by  the  governor's  chair  in  the  old 
Bay  State. 

Now  glance  for  a  moment  at  the  material  condition  of  this  fair 
town.  Traversed  by  fine  wagon  roads  that  are  lined  on  either 
side  by  cultivated  farms,  with  their  commodious  houses  and  barns, 
their  orchards,  gardens,  and  fields,  rich  with  the  golden  harvest ; 
pastures  with  herds  of  sheep  and  cattle ;  school-houses  almost  al- 
ways in  sight,  go  where  you  may ;  libraries  of  books  containing 
the  best  thoughts  of  the  greatest  and  best  men  who  have  ever 
walked  on  this  planet;  newspapers  fresh  every  morning,  telling 
you  what  happened  the  day  before  all  over  the  world  ;  your  terri- 
tory traversed,  also,  by  palace  cars  read}7  to  take  you  across  the 
continent  or  to  any  part  of  it;  traversed,  also,  by  an  elevated 
railway,  over  which  the  lightning  runs  to  carry  such  messages  as 
cannot  wait  for  the  daily  mail ;  and  to  crown  all,  here  sits  this 
gem  of  a  village,  fairest  in  all  New  England,  which  is  the  same  as 
saying  the  fairest  in  all  the  world —  in  which  every  house  is  the  home 
of  plenty  and  luxury,  at  any  rate,  where  the  poorest  families  have 
more  of  the  comforts  of  life,  and  more  of  the  reasonable  luxuries 
than  the  richest  families  in  town  had  fifty  years  ago. 


70 


RESPONSE     TO     SENTIMENT. 

"The   Clergy   of  Bradford —  May  their  efforts  always 
bring   peace   and  good    will." 

By  Rev.  Stephen  G.  Abbott. 


I  feel  very  little  like  addressing  you  to-day  on  the  theme  assigned 
me  on  the  programme.  I  feel  like  speaking  of  the  memories  of 
my  six  years'  residence  among  this  good  people  more  than  twenty- 
five  years  ago —  memories  which  come  trooping  home  to  my  mind 
in  such  numbers  and  with  such  power  as  to  preoccupy  my  thoughts 
and  render  any  other  theme  irksome. 

And  then  as  I  look  around  and  notice  the  absence  of  so  many 
whom  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  counting  among  my  dearest  earth- 
ly friends,  who  were  for  years  among  my  most  constant  and  interest- 
ed hearers,  I  hesitate  to  turn  aside  from  their  memory  to  a  more 
irrelevant  theme. 

But  to-day  I  suppose  we  must  sacrifice  our  feelings  to  the  pro- 
prieties of  the  occasion.  I  do  not  propose  to-day  to  make  any  apol- 
ogy for  the  apparent  failures  of  the  preached  gospel,  for  the  im- 
perfections of  its  professors,  or  the  controvercies  which  have 
marked  the  history  of  the  Christian  church.  Nor  do  I  wish  to 
enter  into  any  defense  of  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  as  respects 
their  weaknesses  and  short-comings.  I  have  little  indeed  to  say 
of  ministers  at  all  personally  :  it  is  the  ministry  as  an  institution 
of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  and  the  message  they  hold  by 
the  same  authority  that  claims  our  attention. 

In  this  light  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  is  the  most  potent  of  all 
the  agencies  which  uplift  a  people  personally  and  collectively  in 
all  the  elements  that  combine  to  make  up  the  best  type  of  civi- 
lization. This  statement  has  never  been  disproved  and  has  sel- 
dom been  denied. 

The  most  pure,  just,  and  beneficent  governments,  laws,  and  cus- 
toms, the  most  peaceful  communities,  the  most  general  accordance 
qf  good  will  and  equal  rights,  the  best  society,  the  happiest  do- 
mestic relations,  the  greatest  security  to  life  and  property,  the 
most  prosperous  commercial  and  industrial  enterprises  have,  all 


71 
i 

been   most  generously    developed    under  the  patronizing   influence 
of  the  Christian  religion  administered  by  its   advocates. 

Every  form  of  civilization  as  a  whole  receives  its  character  from 
the  character  of  these  individual  elements,  and  these  elements  are 
characterized  by  the  prevailing  religion  of  the  people.  It  needs 
but  a  glance  at  what  are  called  pagan  and  half-civilized  nations  to 
furnish  a  demonstration  of  this  fact.  This  connection  is  clearly 
observable  in  all  Christian  nations  and  communities. 

All  the  institutions  of  our  civilization  as  Americans,  of  which  we 
boast  as  peerless  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  are  indebted  to 
the  all-pervading  and  permeating  influence  of  the  spirit  and  prin- 
ciples, the  prohibitions  and  injunctions  of  our  holy  religion. 

When  He  who  was  the  personation  of  this  religion  became 
incarnate,  the  angels  of  heaven  were  commissioned  to  strike  on 
the  plains  of  Bethlehem  the  glad  refrain,  "Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,  and  on  earth  peace  and  good  will  toward  men," 

And  when  He  entered  upon  His  public  ministration,  among  His 
first  acts  was  that  of  calling  twelve  men  from  their  worldly  occu- 
pations to  whom  He  committed  essentially  the  message  of  the 
angels  sa}'ing,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature  ;"  and  the  sound  went  out  through  all  the  earth — 
in  Judea  and  Asia  and  the  surrounding  country  ;  in  Italy  and  the 
islands  of  the  great  sea,  and  in  Europe,  superseding  the  barbarous 
systems  and  practices  of  the  ages,  and  elevating  the  people  to  a 
higher  plane  of  being  and  character. 

Bounding  over  the  ocean,  the  welcome  news  broke  upon  the 
rock-bound  shores  of  New  England,  and  became  the  prime  element 
in  the  civilization  which  made  America  what  it  has  been  and  is 
to-day —  the  queen  among  the  nations  and  the  model  of  the  world. 

Like  the  enchanting  air  of  Sweet  Home,  the  religion  of  Jesus 
runs  through  all  the  rattling  variations  of  all  that  pertains  to  us 
as  a  people.  To  it  are  conformed  just  laws  and  customs.  It  is 
recognized  in  every  branch  of  our  literature.  It  is  appealed  to 
from  the  presidential  chair,  from  the  judge's  bench,  and  in  the 
halls  of  legislation.  Its  altar  is  in  our  institutions  of  learding,  in 
our  families,  and  in  our  voluntary  associations. 

The  services  of  the  minister  are  every-where  demanded ;  not  only 
in  the  highest  assemblies  of  the  people,  but  at  the  launching  of  a 
ship,  the  laying  of  a  corner  stone,  the  erection  of  a  monument,  the 
dedication  of  a  building,  at  the  funeral  service  and  the  marriage 
ceremony.  It  is  all-pervasive  in  its  presence  and  power  to  mould 


72 

and  purify  and  elevate.  Without  the  minister  of  religion  no  city, 
town,  or  hamlet,  maintains  the  lofty  standard  of  our  civilization ; 
it  lapses  at  once  into  vice  and  decay  :  nor  does  the  message  stop 
here.  Retracing  its  steps  it  returns  in  the  hands  of  its  humble 
servants  to  the  lapsed  nations  of  the  Orient,  and  plants  its  stand- 
ard amidst  the  darkness  that  has  been  spreading  and  deepening 
through  the  ages,  and  before  the  simple  story  of  the  cross,  the  ig- 
norance and  superstition,  the  disgusting  vice  and  barbarous  cru- 
elty which  has  become  mighty  through  the  unrestrained  liberty  of 
centuries  disappears. 

The  crude  systems  most  noted  for  spreading  vice  and  cruelty, 
and  for  laying  insupportable  burdens  upon  its  devotees,  is  sup- 
planted by  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  and  the  effete  govern- 
ments of  paganism  are  moulded  into  the  beneficent  character  of 
Christian  institutions. 

The  world's  redemption  is  hastening  on  with  mighty  strides  to- 
day through  the  gospel  in  the  hands  of  God's  ministers. 

With  the  same  ratio  of  progress  that  has  been  attained  in  the 
past  quarter  of  a  century  it  will  be  but  a  few  years,  comparatively, 
before  every  nation  of  the  earth,  with  the  islands  of  the  sea  will 
become  essentially  Christian,  and  that,  through  what  Paul  calls 
the  "foolishness  of  preaching." 

At  the  close  of  our  last  war  with  Great  Britian  the  credit  of  the 
government  was  exhausted,  business  was  stagnant,  and  want  and 
suffering  prevailed  every-where.  It  happened  in  New  York  one 
Saturday  afternoon  in  February  a  ship  was  discovered  in  the  offlng, 
which  was  supposed  to  be  a  cartel  bringing  home  our  commission- 
ers at  Ghent  from  their  unsuccessful  mission.  Expectation  became 
painfully  intense  as  the  darkness  drew  on.  At  length  a  boat 
reached  the  wharf,  announcing  the  fact  that  a  treaty  of  peace  had 
been  signed  and  was  only  waiting  the  action  of  our  government  to 
become  a  law.  The  men  on  whose  ears  these  words  fell  rushed 
in  breathless  haste  into  the  city,  shouting  through  the  streets  as 
they  ran,  "peace!  peace!  peace!"  Every  one  who  heard  the 
sound  repeated  it.  From  house  to  house,  from  street  to  street,  the 
news  spread  with  electric  rapidity.  The  whole  city  was  in  com- 
motion, men  bearing  lighted  torches  were  flying  to  and  fro  shouting, 
"peace  !  peace  !  peace  !  But  few  men  slept  that  night.  In  groups 
they  were  gathered  in  the  streets  and  by  the  fire-side,  beguiling  the 
midnight  hour  with  the  story  of  the  war,  and  congratulations  on 
returning  peace  and  the  opening  prospect  before  them. 


Thus  the  men  whom  God  has  commissioned  ETC  every-where 
sounding  the  message  of  peace  to  a  sin-oppressed  world,  and 
•every  redeemed  soul  re-echoes  the  sound,  hastening  on  the  glad 
day  when  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun,  and  from  the  river 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth  will  be  heard  in  its  full  consummation  the 
old,  old  song,  u  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest !  and  on  earth  peace, 
good  will  toward  men." 


RESPONSE    TO    SENTIMENT, 
"The    Fathers   and  Mothers   of  Bradford." 

By  Edward   A.   Studley. 

MR.    PRESIDENT,    NEIGHBORS,    AND   FRIENDS:— 

This  sentiment  is  one  calculated  to  awaken  tenderest  emo- 
tions in  us  all. 

A  century  !  how  much  that  includes.  I  had  recently  a  very  vivid 
illustration  of  this,  looking,  as  I  did,  in  the  face  of  a  man  one 
hundred  years  old.  It  was  an  event  officially  noticed  by  the 
authorities  of  the  city  of  Newton,  Mass.,  and  when  the  panorama 
of  the  long  past  was  t  unrolled  before  Mr.  Seth  Davis,  his  eye 
indicated  unwonted  delight  and  interest. 

The  oldest  person  here  can  probably  recall  but  part  of  a 
century.  I  am  not  here  to  claim  that  the  fathers  and  mothers 
of  Bradford  were  perfect  men  and  women,  but,  living  up  to  their 
convictions,  they  laid  foundations  for  the  essentials  in  education, 
morals,  and  religion.  In  order  to  appreciate  this  in  the  matter 
of  education  let  us  turn  to  the  earliest  records  of  the  town.  In 
March  J789 —  "Voted  nine  pounds  for  schooling."  1790  eight 
pounds;  in  1792  twelve  pounds;  and  in  1797  forty  pounds; —  a 
large  increase  in  eight  years, 

Then  in  the  matter  of  religion  and  public  worship  they  were 
equally  prompt;  for  in  the  year  1790  it  was  "voted  to  raise  money 
for  preaching."  They  also  at  this  same  meeting  passed  another 
vote,  which  I  think  would  be  called  quite  liberal,  even  at  this  day. 
It  was  this: —  "Voted  that  the  people  of  this  town  shall  have 
such  preaching  as  suits  them  best,  and  pay  when  they  have  their 
proportion  of  the  money  raised." 

10 


74 

1  suppose  it  is  not  essentially  different  in  the  matter  of  payrrrent- 
At  a  social  meeting  December  1st,  17!)5  it  was  "voted  to  give 
Mr.  Benjamin  Wood  a  call  to  settle  as*  a  minister  in  this  town,  and 
to  pay  for  his  first  year's  salary  forty  pounds,  and  to  increase  the 
Bame  annually  three  pounds  until  it  reached  seventy  pounds," 

Here  is  another  vote.  At  the  annual  meeting  March  14th,  1797r 
"Voted  not  to  clear  the  Baptist  Society  from  the  minister  tax."" 
And  at  the  same  meeting,  as  I  read  it,  it  was  "voted  not  to  raise 
money  for  preaching."  Whether  this  was  the  beginning  of  volun- 
tary support  for  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  in  this  town,  I  do  not 
know.  I  find  still  another  record,  and  I  am  snre  the  fathers  and 
mothers  of  the  present  day  have  improved  upon  it.  In  1790T 
'•voted  that  the  selectmen  provide  rum  for  the  raising  of  a  bridge, 
and  the  men  give  their  time  at  the  raising."  The  first  part  is  all 
right.  Here  is  another  item.  Aug.  29,  1796  "voted  to  give  vict- 
uals and  drink  to  the  raisers  and  spectators  at  the  raising  of  the 
meeting-house  on  the  town's  cost." 

I  am  confident  such  votes  could  not  pass  now,  or  even  be 
proposed.  I  believe  the  men  of  that  time  acted ' up  to  the  light 
they  had,  and  that  on  this  matter  of  temperance  it  rapidly  in- 
creases, for  among  my  earliest  recollections  is  an  address  to  the 
sabbath  school  at  the  Centre,  by  a  stranger,  on  this  subject ;  and 
what  I  remember,  and  all  I  remember  of  that  address  is  this : 
"Touch  not,  taste  not,  handle  not;"  and  I  think  that  this  applied 
to  temperance  means  total  abstinence. 

I  left  this  town  at  so  early  an  age  that  my  personal  knowledge  of 
most  of  the  homes  must  be  limited.  I  have,  however,  a  very  distinct 
remembrance  of  one  home,  of  which  I  may  speak,  and  take  for 
granted  it  was,  and  I  hope  still  is,  like  most  homes  in  Bradford. 
The  atmosphere  and  influence  in  that  home,  made  so  by  that  father 
and  mother,  was  the  best  legacy  any  parent  can  leave  a  child  ; 
gold  is  not  to  be  compared  with  it. 

I  remember  the  reverence  for  God's  name,  His  day,  His  house 
and  its  ordinances,  the  voice  of  prayer  daily ;  and  when  the  father 
Was  taken  away,  then  the  mother  commended  the  family,  the 
church,  and  all  good  causes  in  prayer  to  our  Heavenly  Father.  As 
a  mother  of  course  in  such  a  home,  the  conversation  was  often 
upon  themes  of  grandest  impont,  connected  with  the  duties  of  this 
life,  and  also  intimately  connected  with  the  life  eternal. 

My  memory  does  not  treasure  a  single  act  in  life,  or  word  from 
the  lips  of  that  father  or  mother  of  unkindness  or  censoriousness 


75 

towards  others —  only    expressions   of  kindly   sorrow    for  the   di- 
vergence of  any   one  from  the   right  way. 

k'The  Fathers  and  Mothers  of  Bradford,"  and  of  the  century 
aiow  closed !  borne  are  still  here  charged  with  the  duties  of  the 
liour ;  some  have  so  long  ago  joined  the  majority,  that,  to  most  of 
cs,  we  cannot  recall  form  or  features;  some  have  so  recently  gone 
that  we  can  almost  clasp  the  hand,  look  into  -the  eye,  and  hear 
their  voice  of  kindly  greeting—  unseen  but  not  unbidden  guests  of 
this  occasion.  Can  ye  hear  mortal  voices?  We  bid  .you  welcome 
to  these  scenes  of  your  earthly  labors  and  sacrifices,  and  ask  that 
when  we  separate,  as  the  mantle  of  Eligah  fell  upon  Elisha,  so  may 
the  mantle  of  your  virtues  rest  upon  us,  your  children. 


RESPONSE     TO     SENTIMENT, 

uThe   Schools    of  Bradford." 

By   Maj.    Samuel    Davis. 


This  being  the  place  of  my  nativity,  and  having  received  the 
principal  part  of  my  schooling  here,  I  am  deeply  impressed  with 
the  thought  that  a  word  fitly  spokeii  in  response  to  this  sentiment 
would,  indeed,  be  a  desirable  thing  on  this  occasion ;  but  how  to 
get  at  it  in  the  moment  that  is  assigned  to  me  is  a  matter  of  no 
small  difficulty. 

That  public  schools  have  been  kept  in  Bradford  for  a  hundred 
years  last  past  is  quite  natural —  a  very  common-place  fact,  if 
we  limit  our  reflections  tQ  quite  modern  times;  but  when  our 
thoughts  fly  back  through  the  gallery  of  the  ages,  and  we  see  that 
during  the  principal  part  of  recorded  history  no  such  thing  as 
common  schools  were  known,  the  question  arises,  why  was  it  that 
our  grandsires,  so  soon  as  they  had  cut  away,  a  little,  the  prim- 
itive forests  and  made  a  clearing,  began  of  one  accord  to 
tax  themselves  for  school  purposes?  History  is  full  all  along 
down,  of  the  doctrine  that  the  education  of  the  people  was  not 
only  incompatible  with  the  divine'  right  of  kings  and  the  infali- 
bility  of  the  Pope,  but  inimical  to  their  own  peace  and  safety 
as  well.  They  were  told  that  ideas  were  subversive  of  social 
order,  and  at  times  there  was  but  a  remnant  to  dispute  it. 


76 

Thousands  of  years  ago  one  of  the  wise  men  of  the  East  had 
said,  "there  is  a  spirit  in  a  man  j"  and  near  two  thousand  years, 
ago  a  man  had  said  (if  it  be  proper  to  call  him  a  man)  "teacb 
all  nations.''  From  that  timeT  however,  crushed  by  tyrants  and 
persecuted  by  priests,  a  spirit  of  learning  was  never  wanting 
among  the  masses j  and  though  it  lay  fettered  at  the  bottom  of 
civil  ami  ecclesiastical  government,  like  Kueelades  under  Ktna,  it 
now  and  then  made  the  mass  above  it  quake  by  an  uneasy  change 
of  posture. 

Guthrie,  the  poor  peasant's  son,  had  come  and  helped  them  to  see 
that,  by  public  common  schools,  they  could  make  "of  beggars- 
men  of  power."  Cromwell  had  taught  them  that  kings  could  not 
be  trusted  and  should  not  be  feared ;  the  works  of  Milton  and 
Shakespeare  had  even  suggested  the  thought  that  there  might  be 
miraculous  conceptions  in  the  intellectual,  as  well  as  in  the  spir- 
itual world ;  the  crusaders  had  brought  the  West  and  the  East  into 
social  and  commercial  relations  with  each  other,  and  chivalry  had 
enlightened  them  in  generosity,  as  well  as  valo-r —  gallantry,  as. 
well  as  religion :  for  "love  of  God  and  the  ladies"  was  enjoined 
on  the  knight  as  a  single  duty.  Wellington  and  Bonaparte  were 
each  eighteen  years  old ;  the  whole  world  seemed  to  be  upon  the 
eve  of  stupendous  events.  In  two  years  Washington  would  be  pres- 
ident of  the  United  States,  the  boundless  expanse  of  our  teritory 
was  being  traversed  and  its  inexhaustible  resources  beginning  to 
be  known. 

Now  this  bird's-eye  view —  these  headlands,  suggest  something 
of  the  condition  of  the  world,  the  trend  of  home  thought,  when 
our  grandsires  first  penetrated  the  wilderness  and  began  their  strug- 
gle for  their  homes,  their  families  and  their  laws.  But  did  they 
understand  their  mission?  By  their  acts,  their  VOTES —  more  el- 
oquent than  words —  they  proved  that  they  did.  The  fact  is,  the 
old  learning  was  coming  back,  and  this  time  it  would  reach  the 
masses,  and  let  us  thank  God  and  cherish  a  just  pride  that  our 
fathers  received  it  gladly  and  cherished  it  kindly.  Schools  for  the 
children  were  the  songs  they  sung ;  the  records  leave  no  doubt 
on  this  point. 

Though  environed  by  dangers  that  required  them  to  vote  eight 
dollars  per  month  for  "minute  men,"  though  taxes  for  the 
building  of  meeting-houses  and  the  construction  of  roads  and 
bridges  were  necessarily  heavy,  they  moved  right  on  "centering" 
the  districts  and  voting  eight  pounds,  twelve  pounds,  and  so  on 


77 

up  to  thirty  or  forty  pounds  a  year  for  school  purposes ;  and  as 
early  as  1806  they  voted  "six  hundred  dollars  for  school-house 
building  and  repairs." 

•'Like  the  steadfast  tower,  that  never  wags,  its  top,"  they  stood 
by  their  schools  for  their  children. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  our  grandsires  and  granddames  were  not  ig- 
norant, as  ihe  word  went.  They  belonged  to  as  noble  a  type  of 
yeomanry  as  the  world  ever  knew,  and  they  marched  in  the  fore 
front  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  as  evinced  by  a  vote  in  1790, 
when,  after  assessing  a  poll  tax  of  two  shillings  a  head  for  preach- 
ing, they  "voted  that  the  people  of  the  town  should  have  the  LIB- 
ERTY to  have  such  preaching  as  suited  them  best;"  and  when  the}' 
4  voted  that  Capt.  Ingalls  shall  lay  out  his  school  money  where 
be  chooses,"  they  recorded  their  appreciation  of  the  sentiment  of 
equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  in  the  matter  of  school  privileges, 
which  it  were  well,  perhaps,  for  us  of  the  present  day  to  heed. 

Families  were  large  in  the  early  days,  and  the  school-houses 
were  generally  full ;  but  cash  and  text  books  were  scarce,  and  the 
oil  and  the  candles  sometimes  gave  out:  but,  in  that  case  the  boys, 
hatchet  iu  hand,  attacked  the  pitch  pine  stumps,  which  were  made 
an  efficient  substitute  for  "midnight  oil;"  but  these  were  Longfel- 
low's ''idiot  boys,"  and  their  motto  was  "EXCELSIOR!" 

Good  teachers  and  learned  men  were  not  wanting  in  Bradford, 
and  their  works  have  praised  them.  Among  those  who  have  passed 
through  the  dark  portal,  I  can  recall  the  names  of  Gen.  Hoyt, 
Smith,  Jackson,  Bert,  Elisha  Eaton,  Felch,  Barnes,  and  Drs.  Wes- 
ton,  E.  H.  Davis,  and  J.  II.  Hubbard. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  indicate  adequately  the  resultant  good 
that  has  flowed  from  the  schools  of  the  good  old  town  of  Bradford, 
or  even  to  name  those  who  have  gum1  forth  to  perform  their  life- 
work,  received  their  early  training  here;  from  city  and  town,  from 
the  East  and  the  West,  from  the  pulpit,  the  bar,  and  the  med- 
ical profession,  from  work  shop,  engine,  and  the  farm,  came  a 
great  chorus  of  voices,  saying,  in  language  of  thankfulness  and  love, 
"we  owe  our  preparation  for  work  to  the  schools  of  Bradford." 


RESPONSE     TO     SENTIMENT. 

"The    Lawyers  of  Bradford." 

By  Henry  F.  Buswell. 

I  regret  to  say  that  business  engagements  here  will  render  it  im- 
possible for  me  to  be  present  at  the  Bradford  Centennial  Celebra- 
tion, on  the  27th  instant.  Were  it  possible  it  would  afford  rue  the 
greatest  pleasure  to  meet  the  other  scattered  children  of  the  old 
town,  who,  with  its  citizens  and  neighbors,  will  join  in  making  the 
day  a  memorable  and  delightful  one,  and  to  perform  the  part  I  find 
set  down  for  me  in  the  day's  exercise. 

But  among  all  the  expected  speeches,  I  am  sure  none  could  be  bet- 
ter spared  than  that  in  response  to  the  sentiment  which  I  find  set 
opposite  my  name  on  the  official  programme  of  the  day.  "The 
lawyers  of  bradford"  will  be  present  to  speak  for  themselves,  most 
eloquently  and  fittingly,  I  am  sure  ;  and  after  you  shall  have  list- 
ened to  the  addresses  by  Senator  Wadleigh  and  my  honored  friend, 
the  Lieutenant-governor  ol  Massachusetts,  I  feel  that  any  words 
of  another,  intended  to  honor  the  legal  profession  or  its  members, 
would  seem  weak  and  superfluous. 

For  nearly  a  century  the  bar  of  New  Hampshire  has  been  emi- 
nent in  integrity  and  ability,  and  has  spared  from  its  ranks  hun- 
dreds of  its  brethren,  who,  in  every  state,  East  and  West,  have 
worthily  upheld  their  lofty  calling  and  helped  to  administer  justice 
according  to  law ;  and,  certainly,  the  lawyers  of  Bradford  have  done 
their  part  to  uphold  the  honor  and  dignity  of  their  profession. 

Among  the  figures  familiar  in  my  childhood,  none  remains  so 
vivid  in  reccollection  as  that  of  Weare  Tappan,  who,  through  a  long 
life,  worthily  maintained  the  loftiest  standard  of  professional  hon- 
or, and,  as  an  accomplished  lawyer  of  the  old  school,  formed  a 
connecting  link  between  the  living  generation  and  that  which  had 
witnessed  the  forensic  triumphs  of  Daniel  and  Ezekiel  Webster 
and  Jeremiah  Mason. 

Of  his  son,  the  accomplished  lawyer,  the  eminent  and  useful  legis- 
lator, the  patrotic  soldier,  beloved  by  the  citizens  of  the  town  that 
was  so  dear  to  him,  and  the  state  whose  servant  he  was,  ypu  can 
but  think,  upon  the  day  of  your  festival,  how  he  would  have  re- 
joiced in  it,  and  how  his  heart,  now  as  always  would  have  beat  as 


79 

one  •with  yours.  The  snows  of  but  one  winter  have  fallen  upon 
his  grave,  and  it  is  too  soon,  while  the  hearts  he  has  left  are  still 
bleeding,  to  venture  upon  elaborate  eulogies  of  him.  That  useful 
and  honorable  life  of  near  three  score  and  ten  years  is  ende  1,  but 
its  work  remains,  and  he, 

"Beyond   the   toppling   crags   of   duty   scaled, 
Has   come    upon   the   shining   table-lauds, 
In    which   our    God  himself  is   moon   and    sun." 

Our  native  state  has  been  the  cradle  and  nursery  of  great  and 
useful  men.  From  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  in  legislative  halls, 
the  courts  of  law,  the  marts  of  commerce,  the  factory, —  on  the 
peaceful  farms  or  the  bloody  battle  field,  they  have  borne  their  part 
like  strong  men.  New  Hampshire,  seated  on  her  granite  hills, 
may  watch  her  sons,  present  or  absent,  and  say,  "Other  states 
may  give  their  cotton  or  their  gold,  other  soils  may  yield  the  rich 
products  of  warmer  zones,  but  I  have  given  the  nation  what  is 
more  precious  than  all  these,  my  own  children." 

The  host  of  sons  whom  Bradford,  from  her  valley  among  the 
hills,  has  sent  out  into  the  world,  may  return  to  th°.  old  town  on  her 
hundredth  anniversary,  conscious  that  they  have  done  their  part, 
by  virtue  of  their  works  wrought  by  brain  or  hand,  in  the  honor 
which  every-where  justly  belongs  to  the  sous  of  New  Hampshire. 


RESPONSE     TO     SENTIMENT. 

"Bradford    fifty    years    ago." 

By   Mason    B.   Presbury. 


It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  be  with  you  to-day,  to  meet  so 
many  of  my  friends  and  acquaintances  that  for  many  years  I  have 
not  met  before  to-day.  1  see  but  few  of  those  that  were  my  school- 
mates fifty  years  ago  at  the  old  school-house  at  fhe  center  of  the 
town.  There  is  a  sadness  mingled  with  the  pleasure,  for  as  mem- 
ory runs  back  to  my  school-boy  daj's,  the  question  arises,  where  are 
those  one  hundred  scholars  that  belonged  to  that  school?  The  few 
are  here,  but  the  inauy  have  passed  over  the  river;  but  since  you 
have  invited  me  to  respond  to  the  sentiment,  "Bradford  fifty  years 
ago,"  I  will  try  to  picture  it  as  I  remember  it  at  that  time ;  but 


80 

as  much  of  the  ground  has  been  traversed  by  those  who  have  pre- 
ceded me,  I  shall  try  to  avoid  repetition,  which  may  confuse 
me  a  little,  but  I  trust  you  will  not  criticise  too  closely,  for  3-011 
know  I  :xm  a  great  speech  maker. 

Fifty  years  carries  me  back  to  my  boyhood  days —  eighteen 
years  of  age ;  L  think  at  that  time  there  were  but  few  men  in 
town  whom  I  could  not  call  by  name,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
them  I  was  well  acquainted  with.  I  remember  their  faces  as  I 
saw  them  then.  I  will  give  you  a  list  of  those  who  were  regular 
attendants  at  the  old  church,  (or  town  house),  at  the  center  of 
the  town.  From  the  west  part  of  the  town  were  :  John  Severance, 
Col.  Brockway,  Joshua  Crane,  Amos  Morse,  Charles  Morse, 
William  Shattuek,  Mr.  Sweatt,  Soloman  Ingalls,  Deacon  Short, 
Nicholas  Uurrell,  Stephen  Hoyt,  S.  K.  West,  Z.  Jackman,  Elisha 
Eaton,  and  Bartholomew  Smith,  who  took  a  great  deal  of  pride 
in  Iptting  the  people  know  if  there  were  any  parties  in  town  who 
intended  marriage. 

At  the  Corner,  Deacon  Joseph  Shattuek,  David  Bag-ley, 
Isaah  Morse,  Joseph  Morse,  John  Smith,  William  Sawyer,  John 
Barnes,  Nathaniel  Fresbury,  Joshua  Jewitt,  Dr.  Studley,  General 
Stephen  Hoyt,  Deacon  Nehemiah  Colby,  Daniel  Hale,  Silas  Abbott, 
Almon  Styles.  At  the  North,  John  Brown,  John  Kimball,  Albert 
Chase,  Bard  F.  Paige,  Rufus  Fuller,  Luther  French,  Converse  Nich- 
ols, Nathan  Cressy,  John  Gilrnore,  Albert  Cressy  ;  these  men  with 
their  families,  (many  of  them  large.)  made  a  larger  congregation 
than  you  see  at  the  present  day.  These  were  not  the  only  church- 
going  ones,  for  the  Baptist  church  at  the  North,  the  Christian 
at  the  Mill  Village,  the  Free  Will  Baptist  at  the  Bush  meeting-house, 
all  had  their  share  of  followers.  Who  cannot  say  that  these  were 
the  happiest  days  for  the  old  town  of  Bradford. 

Among  the  most  prosperous  business  men,  were  Nicholas  and 
Daniel  Durrill,  Major  Eaton,  Samuel  Jones,  Nehemiah  Knight, 
Nehemiah  Colby,. Jabez  Sawyer,  and  Cyrus  Cress}^. 

When  in  need  you  were  sure  to  find  a  friend  indeed  by  applying 
to  such  men,  this  I  know  by  experience.  Taking  the  people  as 
a  whole,  they  were  industrious,  prosperous,  and  happy.  I  have 
always  felt  proud  of  the  old  town,  the  place  of  my  birth,  and 
my  home  for  sixty-three  years  upon  the  same  place  where  my 
father,  one  of  the  first  settlers,  and  one  of  the  petitioners  for  the 
town  charter,  and  .the  first  selectman  chosen  in  the  new  town 
of  Bradford,  built  his  first  rude  cabbin,  reared  a  large  family,  and 


«fied  at  'the  age  of  severity-six  years.  Fifty  years  ago  our  family 
^numbered  seventeen,  brothers,  half  brothers,  and  sisters^  to-day 
I  am  the  only  one  left  to  tell  the  story. 

At  the  Center  stood  the  old  town  house ;  until  within  sixty 
jears  it  was  the  business  part  of  the  town,  containing  -two  stores, 
•one  ifotel,  tannery,  two  blacksmith  shops,  two  shoe  shops,  and  a 
potash  building,  where  tons  of  potash  was  made  annually ;  bu-t 
ihow  changed  to-day !  Tke  town  house  and  hotels  have  been  re~ 
moved  to  this  village,  the  stores  and  shops  torn  down,  and  aH 
;seems  to  have  gone  to  decay. 

Fifty  years  ago  the  new  church  was  built  for  the  Congregational 
society.  At  its  dedication  the  choir  numbered  about  seventy-five, 
•under  the  training  and  direction  of  William  P.  Hoyt,  ene  of  the 
most  successful  and  popular  teachers  and  singers  of  that  day,  and 
the  rendering  of  such  pieces  as  "Old  Denmark,"  and  "When  the 
Lord  shall  build  up  Zion,"  would  do  credit  to  many  of  the  musical 
societies  of  the  present  day. 

In  comparing  the  past  with  the  present,  how  chamged !  there  are 
tout  few  that  remain  on  the  old  homestead.  In  making  a  trip 
through  the  south  part  of  the  town  I  found  Nathan  Knight,  George 
Andrews,  C apt.  Craggy  in  the  west  part,  J.  H.  Eaton,  J.  Albert 
Peaslee;  near  the  Center,  Charles  P.  Eaton,  Greeley  M.  Cressy> 
Raymond  and  Elbridge  G.  Hoyt.  These  afe  all  I  can  think  of, 
there  may  be  others  at  the  east  part  of  the  town,  that  I  have  for- 
gotten. To-day  many  of  the  farms  are  deserted  and  turned  to 
pasturage,  where  fifty  years  ago  lived  the  most  prosperous  men. 
Like  ma«y  of  the  towns  of  the  state,  the  wealth  has  left  the  rural 
districts'  hill  farms  and  concentrated  in  the  villages,  the  young  men 
not  satisfied  to  stop  on  the  farm,  and  in  their  haste  to  get  wealth 
have  gone  into  different  parts  of  the  country  until  Bradford  is 
represented  in  nearly  every  state  of  the  Union.  Some  have  suo 
ceeded  beyond  their  highest  expectations,  others  have  come  short, 
and  perhaps  would  have  been  as  successful,  had  they  stayed  on 
the  old  homestead. 

I  see  before  me  Edward  Studlej^,  Jabez  A.  and  Frederick  Saw- 
yer, G.  M.  Cressy,  and  E.  H.  Eaton.  These  are  all  that  I  see 
who  were  my  school-mates  fifty  years  ago.  Memory  recalls  many 
happy  scenes  that  transpired  in  those  days,  that  would  afford  us 
more  pleasure  in  rehearsing  by  ourselves,  than  here.  I  cannot  close 
without  speaking  of  some  of  those  men  who  have  not  been  referred 
to  by  any  who  have  preceded  me,  and  who  were  among  my  best 

11 


or 

friends : —  Elder  Hiram  Homes,  always  giving  good  counsel,  Dea- 
con Nehemiah  Colby,  always  ready  with  kind  words  and  a  helping 
hand  for  those  in  trouble,  David  Durrell,  David  Hartshorn,  whose 
interest  in  my  welfare,  and  whose  kindness  to  me  can  never  be 
forgotten  while  life  lusts. 

Five  veal's  ago  I  left  Bradford  and  the  old  homestead,  with  its 
associations,  and  made  a  home  among  strangers,  where  I  found 
many  friends  and  kind  hearted  people  ;  but  still  the  old  town  of 
Bradford  has  a  hold  upon  me  which,  I  am  sure,  can  never  be  broken. 


RESPONSE     TO    SENTIMENT. 

"The    Men    and    Women    who    founded    the    Church 

in    Bradford." 
By   Wm.   A.    Carr   Esq. 


In  the  building  of  any  town,  city,  or  nation,  there  must  be  not 
only  the  clearing  of  forests,  the  fencing  of  farms,  and  the  con- 
struction of  houses,  but  a  care  for  the  intellectual  and  moral  growth 
of  the  men  and  women  of  that  community,  and  for  the  religious 
training  of  the  children. 

The  men  and  women  who  established  the  church  in  Bradford 
knew  that  they  could  do  no  greater  work.  Coming  into  the  wil- 
derness, and  with  all  their  strength  striving  to  wring  from  the  soil 
a  meagre  living,  to  build  homes  for  themselves  and  families,  they 
still  realized  that  it  was  a  wise  and  noble  thing  to  do,  to  build  a 
church  and  dedicate  it  to  the  living  God,  that  men  might  have  His 
help  in  bringing  in  the  reign  of  truth,  justice  and  righteousness. 

So  with  faith  in  God,  faith  in  man,  and  faith  in  works,  they 
went  forth  to  establish  the  church,  assured  that  by  so  doing  they 
were  helping  to  make  men,  women,  and  children  better.  And  did 
they  not  build  better  than  they  knew? 

For  a  hundred  years,  through  good  and  evil  report,  has  not  the 
church  in  Bradford  been  a  power  for  good  ?  From  out  of  it  to 
many  a  city  home,  and  on  to  many  a  broad  prairie  have  gone  strong 
men  and  noble  women,  who  owe  somewhat  of  their  early  training 
to  the  church.  They  have  constructed  new  homes  and  established 
new  churches.  Of  all  the  throng,  who  at  first  gathered  in  barns, 
ater  in  the  old  church  at  the  Center,  and  then  in  this  building,  not 


83 

one  is  left.  Many  rest  under  the  shadow  of  the  churches  thev 
loved  so  well.  Although,  perhaps  no  storied  marble  commemorates 
their  labors  or  their  virtues,  yet,  winter  casts  upon  their  graves  its 
wreaths  of  snow ;  they  are  made  fragrant  in  spring  by  the  May- 
flowers and  the  violet,  and  brilliant  in  autumn  by  the  aster  and 
the  golden-rod. 

Is  it  not  meet  on  this  hundredth  anniversary  that  we  should  bring 
to  those  men  and  women  our  tribute  of  grateful  thanks  and  kindly 
remembrance?  Shall  not  we,  their  descendants,  and  our  children, 
and  our  children's  children,  rise  up  and  call  them  blessed? 


RESPONSE     TO     SENTIMENT. 

uState  of  Mass., — Of  our  best^she  has  taken,  and  to-day 
our  hearts  are  made  glad  by  their  presence." 

By  J.    W.    Morse    Esq. 


MR.    PRESIDENT:— 

For  the  first  time  during  a  life  of  over  eighty  years,  I  am 
called  upon  to  respond  to  a  toast. 

Sir,  while  speaking  of  Massachusetts,  I  shall  have  to  say  some- 
thing of  New  Hampshire.  Our  ancestors  mostly  came  from  Massa-; 
chusetts,  and  planted  themselves  among  the  hills  and  valleys  of 
New  Hampshire ;  their  seed  has  produced  a  good  crop  of  men  and 
women. 

Massachusetts  is  one  of  the  most  noted  states  of  its  size  of  any 
in  the  Union,  celebrated  for  its  learning,  enterprise,  commerce, 
manufacturies,  its  statesmen  and  great  men  of  almost  all  profes- 
sions ;  while  granting  to  her  all  these  great  and  good  qualities,  shall 
claim  she  is  somewhat  indebted  to  New  Hampshire  for  brains : 
for  instance,  her  greatest  statesman,  Daniel  Webster ;  her  greatest 
lawyer,  Jeremiah  Mason.  We  have  also  sent  her  some  men  who 
knew  how  to  keep  a  tavern,  Pason  Stevens,  at  one  time  the  most 
popular  hotel  landlord  in  New  England,  James  W.  Johnson  and 
George  Bell,  all  New  Hampshire  men.  We  of  Bradford  have 
tried  to  return  our  part  of  the  harvest  to  our  ancestral  state  by 
sending  from  the  school  department  four  lawyers  of  note,  one 
a  United  States  senator,  one  lieutenant-governor,  three  doctors,  six 


merchants,  besides  a  large  mi mber  of  others  to  fill"  honorable 
useful  stations  from  other  districts,  and  sir,  I  have  noticed  in  a- 
recent  newspaper  thut  one  of  the  political  parties  in  Massachusetts,, 
has  taken-  a  New  Hampshire  man  for  a  candidate  for  Goveraor  andi 
the  prospect  is  that  the  othep  will  take  another  for  Lieutenant- 
governor. 

I  believe  Mr.  President,  we  aTI  subscribe  to  the  sentiment  of  the- 
toast,  that  our  hearts  are  made  glad  by  the  pr-eseace  of  s&  ni£.ny 
ef  our  sons  and  daughters  here  to-day. 


HISTORIC    STATEMENT. 

By   Mrs.  Mary  Augusta   Lull. 


'"'Not  long:  ago1  a  small  vase  was  taken  from  the  tomb  of  an  ancient 
Athenian,  and  about  it  was  the  perfume  of  the  roses  with  which 
k  was  once  filled." 

To-day,  we,  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Bradford,  come  back  to- 
the  town  of  our  nativity,  to  join  with  ber  citizens  in  celebrating 
Bradford's  one  hundred  and  first  birth-day.  And  as  we  stand  here 
by  the  tomb  of  the  burried  past,  memory  touches  with  her  magic 
wand  the  scroll  that  binds  her  records  ;  and  lo  !  from  out  the  grave 
of  the  past  there  rises  blessed  memories.  Can  you  recall  them  my 
friends?  the  sights  and  sounds,  the  scenes  and  events  of  our  child- 
hood ?  Ah !  sweeter  than  any  roses  that  ever  grew  in  Athenian 
gardens,  and  far  more  beautiful  to  owr  childish  eyes  were  the  roses- 
red  and  white,  damask  and  cinnamon  which,  grew  in  our  fathers' 
tfnd  grandfathers'  gardens.  Do  you  remember  the  beds  of  clover, 
and  the  fields  of  buttercups  that  seemed  like  "patches  from  some 
golden  web"  thrown  over  the  fresh  green  fields  in  June,  and  the 
delicate  forget-me-nots  that  we  exchanged  with  vows  of  remem- 
brance? And  later,  when  autumn  came,  how  the  asters,  golden- 
rod,  and  sun-loving  marigold  lifted  their  regal  heads  above  earth's 
beautifully  tinted  carpet  of  leaves,  as  if  adding  their  crown  of 
glory  to  the  declining  year,  while  out  in  grandma's  garden  grew 
the  odorous  balm,  sage,  tansy,  rosemary,  and  me,  which  grandma 
gathered  and  hung  in  the  attic  for  time  of  need.  Out  in  the  woods, 
the  sweet-scented  woods  of  pine  and  hemlock,  we  gathered  beech- 


85 

nuts  and  snob  delicious  spruce  gum !  Down  the  hill-sides  came 
murmuring  brooks ;  and  through  the  valleys  rippling  streams  of 
water,  over  which  the  boys  built  dams  and  bridges,  and  on  which 
they  sailed  their  miniature  boats.  There  were  long  lanes  of  "Ca- 
nary-grass" and  hard  pebbly  roads,  over  which  our  young  feet, 
bare  and  brown,  tripped  and  stumbled  on  our  way  to  the  village 
school.  The  village  school !  how  we  rejoiced  at  its  beginning, — 
cried  at  its  close —  at  least  the  girls  did.  With  what  enthusiasms  we 
studied  ;  with  what  delight  we  played!  ''Old  Bear"  was  the  fa- 
vorite game  at  the  middle  of  the  town.  Round  and  round  the  old 
church  we  ran,  laughing,  shouting  and  singing,  until  every  fiber 
of  our  being  felt  the  influence  of  the  pure  life-blood  as  it  went 
coursing  through  every  artery  and  vein,  sending  the  rich  glow  of 
health  to  lip  and  cheek,  and  rousing  every  dormant  energy,  so 
that  when  recess  was  over,  we  were  ready  for  mischief  or  study. 

That  play-ground !  it  was  the  VERY  BEST  in  town,  broad,  low, 
and  level.  There  was  the  old  meeting-house,  unpainted  and  un- 
kept;  in  close  proximity  the  new,  modern  in  structure,  and  painted 
white.  Just  beyond,  the  old  church-yard,  where  we  reverently 
wandered  by  day  and  shiveriugly  shunned  at  night.  Near  by,  the 
cannon  house  with  its  ancient  gun ;  how  eagerly  we  peered  through 
every  crack  and  crevice  for  a  glimpse  of  this  revolutionary  relic. 
Near  by  was  the  vestry,  which  was  used  for  church  and  school ; 
it  was  for  a  while  Bradford's  academy,  and  so  noted  that  it  called 
boys  and  girls  from  other  towns  and  states.  Between  the  vestry  and 
school-house  was  the  pound  buillt  of  huge  cobble-stones  and  sur- 
mounted by  great  timbers  which  seemed  THEN  like  high  battlements. 

A  class  of  large  boys  attended  the  winter  school —  full  of  mis- 
chief, fond  of  fun  they  were ;  sometimes  in  physical  force  and 
cunning  they  were  superior  to  the  master ;  such  was  the  case  in 
the  winter  of  1842.  They  did  not  like  the  master,  so  one  noon 
they  sent  the  little  ones  out  with  the  assurance  that  "we  should 
never  get  out  if  we  dinn't  go  right  away."  Then  they  nailed  up 
the  door  and  fastened  down  all  the  windows  but  one ;  they  left 
the  room  by  this  window  and  valiantly  waited  for  the  master —  he 
came  soon,  tried  the  door  and  windows —  there  was  no  entrance — 
be  hesitated,  considering,  probably,  that  "discretion  was  the  better 
part  of  valor,"  he  left  soon  ;  the  committee  hired  another  man, 
named  Campbell,  and  the  boys  sang  long  and  loud  "The  Camp- 
bells are  coming!"  At  last  one  came,  surnamed  Charles;  and  when 
the  boys  found  the  name  of  his  lady  love  was  Ann  Tucker,  they 


86 

changed  their  tune  to  that  of  "Old  Dan  Tucker"  Unmindful  of 
their  songs  and  ridicule,  unmindful  of  all  save  duty,  he  stayed — 
because  the  boys  had  found  their  master. 

Amid  the  throng  of  memories  from  out  the  grave  of  the  past  I 
hear  the  sound  of  the  NEW  bell,  now  softly  ringing,  now  bursting  in 
melody,  sending  its  merry  clangor  far  and  wide  o'er  meadow  and 
mountain.  It  called  us  to  God's  house  for  prayer  and  praise  ;  it 
was  a  signal  bell —  the  signal  of  death  !  How  eagerly  we  listened 
when,  on  a  week  day,  we  heard  it  toll —  would  it  be  three  strokes, 
a  pause,  and  then  three  more?  or  would  it  be  three  times  three, 
thus  telling  whether  man  or  woman  had  "passed  the  bourne  from 
which  none  ever  return :"  then  in  slow,  measured  strokes  came  the 
age —  it  was  some  one's  father,  mother,  brother,  or  sister,  and  our 
hearts  went  out  in  sympathy  to  the  bereaved. 

But  amid  all  the  fond  recollections,  and  more  precious  than  any 
other,  aye,  it  is  a  golden  link  binding  us  closer  to  heaven —  now 
we  stand  on  holy  ground,  as  reverently  we  utter  the  words,  "my 
mother  !  my  mother  !  How  tenderly  she  cared  for  us  ;  how  patient- 
ly she  toiled  for  us  from  morning  till  far  into  the  night.  Clasped 
close  to  her  loving  heart,  we  forgot  all  our  childish  griefs,  listen- 
ing to  the  sweet  songs  she  sung,  while  our  rocking-chair,  swinging 
backward  and  forward  through  the  air,  kept  time  to  the  melody 
of  her  song.  Or  at  night,  when  the  wind  was  high,  and  the  rain 
fell  fast,  we  heard  her  coming  up  the  attic  stairs.  Ah  !  even  now, 
sometime, 

In   fancy  comes   my  mother, 

As  she   used   in  years  agone, 
To  survey  the  infant    sleepers, 

E'er  she  left  them  till  the  dawn. 
I   can   see  her  bending  o'er  me, 

As   I   listen   to  the  strain 
That  is  played   upon  the  shingles 
'  By  the  patter  of  the   rain." 

And  the  fathers —  the  brave  pioneers,  who  made  homes  for  them- 
selves and  their  children  in  a  wilderness  !  Many  of  them  were  of 
limited  education,  but  well  informed  on  all  subjects  pertaining  to 
the  general  welfare  of  the  town ;  and  they  and  their  descendants 
have  identified  themselves  with  its  educational  and  business  pros- 
perity. 


87 

Among  the  physician  were  Drs.  Stanlej7,  Ames,  and  Weston, 
who  were  noted  physicians ;  they  healed  the  sick  and  helped  the 
needy  with  kind  words  and  deeds  of  charity.  Dr.  Weston  was  an 
able  writer ;  many  will  remember  his  poem  entitled  "The  hills  of 
South  Bradford."  He  was  a  Christian  gentleman,  and  his  many 
acts  of  kindness,  quietly  performed,  will  never  be  forgotten. 

Among  those  who  ministered  to  the  spiritual  well-being  of  the 
citizens,  were  Revs.  Steele,  Page,  Thatcher,  Rogers,  Elder  Holms, 
and  Elder  Gillingham. 

Again,  in  the  Church  at  the  Center,  I  seem  to  stand  at  the  front 
window  of  the  singing  seats  and  watch  the  congregation  as  it  as- 
sembled, coming  from  all  parts  of  the  town,  some  in  carriages, 
others  on  foot.  From  the  north  came  the  Carrs,  Tappans,  Chases, 
Cochrans,  Browns,  KHmballs,  Martins,  Wadleighs,  Raymonds,  and 
"Morse  and  Blanchard"  with  their  families.  From  the  west,  the 
Durrells,  Brockways,  Sweats,  Smiths,  Severance,  Strattons,  Peas- 
lees,  Morses,  Ingalls,  Bryants,  Bagleys,  Everetts,  Jackmans, 
Wests,  Hoyts,  and  Captain  Eaton's  family.  From  the  east,  the 
Hartshorns,  Hales,  Colbies,  Knights,  Davises,  Millens,  Sawyers, 
Cressies,  Rows,  and  that  genial,  kindly  man,  who  was  loved  by  all 
the  boys  and  girls —  Joshua  Jewett,  and  with  him  his  sister  Sally. 

From  the  south  part,  the  Butmans,  Savages,  Ayers,  Colbies, 
Fultons,  and  Amos  Morse's  family.  Nearer  the  church  was  Eben- 
ezer  Cressy,  a  citizen  honored  for  his  integrity,  while  his  brother 
Cyru?,  "tall  apd  stately  as  a  cedar  of  Lebanon,"  interested  the 
children  with  his  anecdotes  and  relics  of  the  revolutionary  war. 
And  the  Shattucks,  Lunds,  and  Bartholomew  Smith,  who  was  for 
many  years  a  representative  of  the  town.  After  tying  their  horses, 
the  men  loitered  about  the  church  door,  while  the  women  exchanged 
bits  of  gossip  in  the  entry  until  the  bell  tolled,  then  all  took  their 
seats.  The  choir,  led  by  the  musical  Ho}'ts  or  Presbies,  sang  from 
"Watt's  Hymns"  the  old  soul-stirring  tunes,  while  sweet  Olive 
Hoyt,  the  General's  only  daughter,  led  the  bass  with  the  four 
stringed  viol ;  then  the  clergyman  followed  with  devout  prayer, 
and  "the  word" —  as  he  understood  it —  commencing,  "men  and 
brethren ;"  The  women  were  usually  left  out  till  one  Sunday, 
when  Abby  Fulsome,  one  of  the  famous  pioneers  of  the  "Anti- 
slavery  and  Woman's  Rights  Movement,"  came  into  our  church 
during  prayer,  and  to  our  amazement,  mounted  the  pulpit  steps 
and  quietly  took  one  of  "the  deacon's  seats."  As  soon  as  the 
minister  said  "amen,"  and  turned  to  sit  down,  she  stepped  into 


88 

his  place  and  began  to  talk.  I  shall  never  forget  her  attitude  or 
his  look  of  surprise.  The  good  man  reasoned  with  her  saying  "this 
is  my  pulpit-time  and  place ;"  he  might  as  well  have  attempted 
to  calm  the  sea  in  a  tempest,  for  she  kept  right  on.  In  despair 
the  minister  called  the  deacons  to  his  assistance ;  they  in  turn 
tried  to  persuade  her  to  leave  the  desk,  but  she  only  talked  the 
faster:  then  they  laid  hands  on  her,  when  her  tongue  stopped,  and 
she  dropped  to  the  floor  as  if  shot,  the  deacons  looked  frightened 
and  let  go  their  hold,  when  she  was  again  on  her  feet,  talking 
more  enthusiastically  than  ever.  They  took  hold  of  her  again, 
dragging  her  down  the  pulpit  stairs  and  along  the  aisle  into  the 
entry,  and  did  not  return  till  they  saw  her  ride  away  in  the  carriage 
waiting  for  her. 

The  grand  old  fathers,  with  their  careful  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath, and  their  strict  ideas  regarding  sin  and  its  punishment,  have 
inspired  their  descendants  with  reverential  remembrance,  and  we 
KNOW  the  world  is  better  for  the  existence  of  such  men.  To  the 
names  already  given  we  would  add  those  of  two  former  residents  of 
Bradford  Center;  the  late  Albert  F.  Cressy  of  Newark,  New  York, 
and  Edward  Studley  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  who,  when  the  old 
church  languished  and  thorns  and  briars  threatened  to  choke  out 
"the  roses  of  Sharon  and  Easter  lilies" —  placed  their  shoulders  to 
the  wheel  and  raised  God's  sanctuary  from  its  ashes. 

Looking  back  now  to  our  childhood's  days;  they  seem  like  a 
sweet  prelude  to  the  "grand  march  of  life"  which  we  all  then  an- 
ticipated. How  is  it  to-day?  Some  have  marched  to  mush:  full 
of  harmony,  with  seemingly  few  discordant  notes.  Such  have  led 
quiet,  useful  lives  in  the  dear  old  town;  and  now  "their  children 
rise  up  and  call  them  blessed."  Others  have  kept  quick-step  to 
jarring,  wrangling  strains,  full  of  minor  chords.  Many  of  the 
Bradford  boys  have  taken  high  places  of  honor  and  trust  in  town, 
state,  and  nation.  I  well  remember  how  the  late  Mason  W.  Tap- 
pan,  Bradford's  favored  favorite  son,  used  to  sing  : — 

"Ho!   the   car  of  emancipation 
Rides   majestic   through  the   nation, 
Bearing  on   its  wings  the  story, 
'LIBERTY,   a   nation's    glory!'" 

On  this  train  Mr.  Tappan  took  passage  and  rode  triumphantly 
into  the  House  of  Representatives  in  Washington.  Later,  we  who 


'were  boys  and  girls  in  1842,  rejoiced  when  we  heard  that  our  old 
school-mate,  Hon.  Bainbridge  Wadleigh,  was  elected  United  States 
senator  from  New  Hampshire. 

Still  later,  when  our  fair  sister  state  was  looking  among  her  cit- 
izens for  a  governor,  she  found  in  one  who  was  a  Bradford  boy, 
the  requisite  qualities ;  aud  to-day  we  are  honored  by  the  presence 
of  Lieutenant-governor  Brackett  of  Massachusetts. 

But  the  grandest  march  of  all  that  Bradford  boys  ever  made,  was 
when  they  donned  the  blue,  and,  to  the  music  of  fife  and  drum, 
dared  to  march  "into  the  very  jaws  of  death"  to  help  save  our 
country  from  anarchy  and  ruin  in  its  hour  of  peril.  How  weary  the 
march,  how  terrible  the  sufferings,  only  the  old  soldier  knows. 
Sometimes  I  knowt  he  water  you  drank  was  putrid  and  loathesome> 
and  your  bread  black  and  mouldy.  To  be  sure,  at  night,  when 
without  shelter  of  house  or  tent,  the  canopy  above  you  was  regally 
magnificently  studdied  with  innumerable  stars,  placed  there  by  the 
hand  of  tbe  Master  Builder  and  Artist.  But  clouds  intervened, 
shutting  out  the  regal  spectacle,  shutting  out  all  but  the  pitiless 
rain  on  your  uncovered  heads.  Disease  and  death  ever  lay  in 
wait  for  you,  sometimes  facing  you  boldly  in  battle  array,  again 
descending  in  hot  haste  on  the  fierce  beams  of  the  noon-day  sun, 
or  stealthily  lurking  in  the  air  of  night,  filling  your  blood  with 
pestilence  and  poison,  thus  helping  the  bullets  in  their  work  of 
death.  So  I  repeat  it,  veterans,  you  have  made  the  grandest,  most 
beneficent  march  of  all ;  and  from  henceforth  the  "laurel  crown" 
of  victory  is  yours.  Chasten  your  glorious  conquest  with  the 
soldier's  noblest  virtue —  magnanimity  to  the  fallen  foe  ;  for  so  re- 
united, conqueror  and  conquered  from  farthest  north  through  sun- 
ny south,  from  the  Atlantic  slope  to  the  far  off  Pacific  coast,  to- 
gether shall  sing:  — 

"The  lily   may   fade,  and    its   leaves   decay; 

The   rose   from  its   stem   shall   sever; 
The  thistle  and  shamrock  shall  pass  away, 

But  the  STARS  shall  shine  on  forever!" 

And  now  all  hail!  old  Bradford,  as  you  take  up  another  cen- 
tury's march.  Turn  thy  waters,  oh,  Lake  Sunnapee,  and  give 
them  to  the  river  of  the  valley  that  bears  thy  name,  so  that  upon 
its  banks  many  factories  for  cotton  and  wool  shall  keep  the  old 
grist  and  saw  mills  company.  May  your  borders  increase,  and 

12 


90 

within  them  come  many  worthy,  gallant,  manly  sons,  beautiful ,  wo- 
manly daughters.  May  you  ever  thrive  and  prosper,  beloved  town 
of  our  nativity,  while  the  years  weave  themselves  into  scores,  and 
the  scores  into  other  centuries. 

And  ye,  oh  ye  everlasting  hills,  standing  aronnd  like  sentinels 
guarding  this  beautiful  valley,  watch,  also,  we  pray  thee,  over  the 
dust  of  our  ancestors,  for  here  for  three  generations  they  lie  en- 
tombed. Shade  of  my  grandmother,  whose  baby-voice  tirst  broke 
the  stillness  of  a  savage  wilderness  !  spirits  of  our  ancestors  !  if  ye 
are  present  to-day,  listen  while  we  offer  to  you  our  tribute  of  grati- 
tude and  love.  Sleep  on,  sacred  dust,  while  the  wind  chants  thy 
requiem,  and  the  silent  stars  keep  faithful  watch  over  your  graves. 

Sons  and  daughters  of  Bradford,  the  day  is  fast  passing ;  on  the 
morrow  as  we  go  from  this  home  of  our  birth —  thanks  to  the  hos- 
pitable citizens  of  Bradford —  we  shall  carry  with  us  pleasant 
recollections  of  this,  "a  red  letter  day"  in  our  lives,  and  blessed 
will  be  its  memories  forever. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


The  following  are  a  few  of  the  many  letters  we  have  received  from 
old  townsmen  and  former  residents.  Did  space  permit  we  should  be 
most  happy  to  publish  all  that  have  been  received,  as  it  could  not  fail 
to  be  a  source  of  gratification  to  all  who  shall  peruse  these  pages. 


WARNER,  N.  H.  AUGUST,  28th,   1887. 
Centennial  Celebration  Committee,  Bradlord,  N,  H. 

Gentlemen: — 

Your  letter  of  invitation  to  the  celebration  of  the  one 
hundredth  anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  the  town  of  Brad- 
ford, is  herewith  gratefully  acknowledged. 

It  would  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  participate,  but  my  health 
and  strength  are  such  that  prudence  forbids  my  attendance  in  body, 
but  I  assure  you  that  on  that  day  my  mind  will  dwell  not  alone  upon 
your  present  prosperity  and  standing  as  a  town,  but  upon  events 
coming  within  my  knowledge,  and  extending  over  a  period  covering 
more  than  three-quarters  of  the  century  just  closing  to  your  town. 

My  first  visit  was  when  a  girl  in  my  teens,  more  than  seventy-five 
years  ago,  in  company  with  others  long  since  laid  away.  I  was 
present  at  an  old-fashioned  annual  "Muster"  of  our  gallant  soldier- 
boys.  I  was  so  impressed  by  the  spiiit  of  chivalry  and  the  martial 
bearing  of  these  brave  men,  your  ancestors —  gentlemen —  that 
the  memories  of  the  day  has  never  left  me.  The  same  spirit  was 
with  all  of  us  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  with  the  youth  of  to- 
day, or  so  it  seems  to  me. 

One  of  the  sights  of  that  day  was  the  gallant  old  General  Hoyt 
splendidly  mounted  and  commanding  his  little  army  in  a  way  that 
completely  captivated  our  young  hearts.  At  that  time  your  beauti- 
ful village  on  the  river  was  hardly  in  existence,  a  few  houses  at  the 
Centre  being  the  only  collection —  Since  then  every  year  has 
brought  you  in  one  way  and  another  more  of  God's  blessings —  and 
may  you  and  your  children  and  your  children's  children  continue 
to  enjoy  them  through  time  marked  by  many  a  happy  Centennial 
Celebration,  is  the  wish  of  one  who  for  over  thirty  years  was 
numbered  among  you,  and  who  in  all  that  time  met  with  naught  but 
kindness  and  love  at  your  hands,  and  who  now  in  her  ninety-fourth 
year  wishes  you  every  success  and  enjoyment  in  your  Celebration. 

S.  SOPHIA  LANL. 


CrtY,  KAN.,     SEW.  21,  1887, 

(      Charles  F.  Davis, 
Messrs.     <      Horace  K.  Martin, 
(      George  S.   Morgan, 

Gentlemen : — 

I  sincerely  regret  that  it  is  out  of  my  power  to  accept 
your  very  kind  invitation  to  attend  the  one  hundredth  anniversary 
of  the  incorporation  of  the  town  of  Bradford,  a  town  associated1 
with  my  earliest  recollections,  and  endeared  to  me  by  many  years- 
of  residence. 

Though  riot  a  native  of  the  town,  I  have  altfays  regarded  it  as« 
my  real  home,  and  there  my  early  friendships  were  formed.  More 
than  thirty  years  of  absence  has  not  weakened  the"  ties  that  bind 
me  to  the  dear  old  haunts  of  my  childhood  and  youth,  nor  dimmed 
the  warm"  feeling  of  friendship  for  the  hundreds  of  good  men  and 
women  with  whom  I  held  kindly  intercourse  in  my  earlier  days* 

Nothing  in  life  could  afford  me  more  sincere  pleasure  than  to  meet 
with  you  on  the  pleasant  September  day  that  I  trtfst  is  reserved  for1 
your  celebration,  to  look  once  more  upon  the  well-remembered 
faces,  to  exchange  greetings  and  listen  to  the  exercises  of  the 
memorable  day.  Delightful  would  it  be  to  a  toil-worn  wanderer 
like  myself  to  revisit  the1  dear  old  spots  so  cherished  in  memory, 
once  more  to  gaze  on  the  bright  streams  that  wind  among  your 
hills,  the  grand  mountains  that  stand  around  you,  and  the  beau- 
tiful and  fertile  valleys  and  verdant  hill-sides  that  comprise  your 
homes. 

I  was  not  aware  until  the  receipt  of  your  Welcome  letter  of  in- 
vitation that  the  good  old  town  was  incorporated  in-  the  same  year 
that  our  noble  constitution  was  framed,  and  but  ten  days  after  that 
immortal  document  received  the  signatures  of  George  Washington, 
Benjamiti  Franklin,  and  the  other  illustrious  patriots  who  framed 
it.  I  did  not  realize  that  my  own  short  life'  measured  more  than 
two  thirds  of  the  corporate  life  of  the  town.  Bradford,  with  its 
neighboring  towns  of  Sutton,  Newbury,  and  Warner,  all  watered 
and  drained  by  Warner  River  and  its  tributary  streams,  constitute 
a  group  of  which  any  American  may  be  proud  to  say,  "there  was 
iny  birth-place  and  my  earliest  home."  And  the  men  who  first 
made  their  homes  there,  afld  with  their  bright  axes  and  strdiig  arms 


93 

opened  up  the  virgin  soil  to  the  sun,  deserve  to  be  held  in   honored 
memory   for   all  time. 

My  own  experience  of  pioneer  life  under  far  different  circum- 
stances and  conditions  has  taught  me  how  to  reverence  the  men 
who  subdued  the  rugged  hills  and  forests  of  New  Hampshire. 
They  were  a  heroic  race  such  as  this  world  has  seldom  seen.  Stout 
hearts  and  strong  arms  only  could  have  prevailed  against  the  stub- 
born forces  of  nature  that  confronted  them  at  every  step.  Every 
mile  of  road  which  they  built  cost  more  labor  than  goes  to  the 
grading  of  ten  miles  of  railroad  on  our  Kansas  plains.  Ever  bridge 
was  an  achievement ;  and  the  first  saw  and  grist  mills  were  things 
to  be  proud  of ;  the  first  blacksmith  shop  was  a  monument  of 
progress;  and  the  first  church  and  school-house  things  to  exult 
over. 

I  well  remember  the  strongly  marked  features  and  sturdy  forms 
of  many  of  those  pioneers.  Their  names  will  never  escape  my 
memory.  The  Adamses,  Andrews,  Ashbies,  Ameses,  and  An-, 
botts ; —  the  Browns,  Buswells,  Blaisdells,  Bateses,  Brockways, 
Blanchards,  and  Baileys, —  the  Cressies,  Carrs,  Chases,  Crams, 
Cochi'ans.  and  Colbies. —  the  Davises,  Durrells,  Danes,  Dowlins, 
and  Dotens, — the  Eatons,  Emersons,  and  Eastmans, — the  Frenches, 
Parleys,  and  Felches, —  the  Goulds,  Gillinghams,  Georges,  and 
Grays,—  the  Hoyts,  Harts,  Hardies,  Halls,  Howletts,  Hawkses, 
Harrimans,  and  Hows, —  the  Ingallses, —  the  Joneses,  Johnsons, 
Jewetts,  and  Jamesons, —  the  Knights,  and  the  Khnballs, —  the 
Lanes,  and  the  Laws,  and  tUe  Lunds,— ^  the  Mosses,  Martins,  Mar- 
shalls,  Morgans,  Maxfields,  and  Murdoughs, —  the  Nicholses,  the 
Presbies,  Peaslees  and  Perkinses, —  the  Rogerses,  Redingtons, —  the 
Smiths,  the  Tappans,  the  Wadleighs,  Woods,  and  Ways ;  all  seem 
to  come  up  before  me  as  I  write,  and  for  every  one  of  every  name 
I  feel  a  kindly  thrill  of  emotion.  But  alas !  the  names  recall 
many  dear  faces  that  I  shall  look  upon  no  more.  They  have  passed 
over  the  river  to  join  the  majority  beyond —  and  there,  I  too,  must 
soon  go  with  them  in  the  "land  of  ihe  dead." 

Seated  here  in  my  pleasant  homestead  cottage  by  the  swift-flowing 
waters  of  the  great  Arkansas  River,  where  the  lines  of  38  degrees 
north  latitude  and  101  degrees  of  west  longitude  cross  each  other, 
just  one  twelfth  part  of  the  earth's  circumference,  or  more  than 
2,000  miles  north,  in  the  very  heart  of  what  used  to  be  considered  ' 
the  great  American  Desert,  yet  surrounded  with  all  the  evidences 
of  fertility,  with  fruits  and  flowers  always  in  sight,  and  a  city  grow- 


94 

ing  up  like  Jonah's  gourd,  requiring  all  my  time  t#  supply  the   edi- 
torials for  one  of  its  daily  newspapers —  I  am  yet   drawn   strongly 
toward   the   old   home    and   find    rn3"self   indulging   in   the   pensive 
mood,  and   unconsciously  breathing   the  old   refrain: — 
"Way  down  upon  the  old  Warner   River, 

Far    far    away; 

There's  where   my  heart  is  turning  ever, 
There's    where    the    old    folks   stay." 

Such,  I  am  sure,  is  the  feeling  of  every  true  son  of  New  Hamp- 
share  who  finds  himself  far  away  from  the  old  home  of  his  youth, 
and  3*et  I  wo-uld  by  no  means  be  understood  as  regretting  the  step 
I  took  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  when  I  voluntarily  left  the 
old  home  to  cast  in  my  lot  with  the  new. 

I  have  met  with  unexpected  success,  and,  also,  with  severe 
reverses ;  but  have  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  seeing  a  great  and 
prosperous  state  grow  up  in  the  bleak  and  bare  wilderness,  and 
of  seeing  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  of  people  inhabiting  it, 
with  resources  ample  for  the  support  and  comfort  of  millions 
more. 

New  Hampshire  and  all  New  England  have  contributed  pow- 
erfully to  this  unexampled  growth  and  prosperity,  and  yet  they 
have  only  grown  richer  and  stronger  by  the  aid  they  have  given. 
New  England,  is  the  schoolmaster  of  the  Union —  especially  of  the 
great  West —  and  will  always  be  so.  Kansas  has  drawn  but  791  of 
her  1,600,000  inhabitants  from  New  England,  and  a  like  small 
number  from  the  other  New  England  states,  while  she  has  drawn 
194,000  from  Illinois,  109,000  from  Iowa,  94,000  from  Indiana, 
and  25,000  from  Kentucky,  with  like  large  numbers  from  other 
western  and  southern  states ;  and  they  are  still  coming  by  swarms 
at  the  rate  of  some  thousands  every  day  ;  yet  the  few  from  New 
England  are  like  the  leaven  we  read  of,  which,  hidden  in  the  meas- 
ures of  meal  somehow  leavened  the  whole  lump. 

I  would  exhort  you  to  keep  the  old  fires  bright  among  the  hills. 
Keep  the  old  school-houses  in  good  repair,  or  replace  them  with 
new  ones,  and  have  no  fears  that  the  growth  of  the  West  will  in 
any  way  detract  from  the  prosperity  of  the  East.  We  can  soon 
send  you  the  silk,  salt,  and  sugar,  as  well  as  the  corn,  wheat,  oats, 
and  rye —  the  beef,  pork,  and  poultry  which  you  may  require  for 
your  crowded  and  bustling  cities ;  but  we  shall  always  want  so 
many  things  in  return  that  we  shall  still  remain  your  debtors. 

So  long   as  the  same   flag  shelters  us,    and  the  same   spirit   and 


95 

language   animates    our   hearts,    the   East   and  the  West  will   be 
help-mates,  and  not  rivals. 

I  beg  your  pardon,  gentlemen,  for  inflicting  upon  you  so  long 
and  so  prosy  a  sermon,  and  will  close  by  the  expression  of  hearti- 
est wishes  for  the  success  of  your  celebration,  and  for  the  pros- 
perity and  happiness  of  yourselves,  your  families,  and  every  in- 
dividual that  calte  the  good  old  town  his  home. 

Very    truly  your  friend   and   former  townsman, 

L.   D.   BAILEY. 


CHEROKEE,  IOWA,  AUGUST,  27th,  1887. 

Messrs.  Davis,  Martin  and  Morgan  :  Centennial  Celebration  Com- 
mittee of  Bradford,  New  Hampshire. 

Gentlemen  : — 

I  have  this  day  received    your  kind  invitation  to  be  present 
at  your  centennial  celebration  on  September  27th  next. 

I  am  very  sorry  to  be  obliged  through  a  multiplicity  of  reasons  to 
say  that  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  comply  with  your  invitation. 
Ever  since  I  first  heard  of  your  intention  to  celebrate,  I  have  had  a 
longing  to  be  present  on  that  occasion. 

It  was  my  fortune  sixty  3rears  ago  the  ninth  of  November  last 
to  first  see  the  light  of  day  upon  a  hill-side  sloping  to  the  north  and 
east,  and  overlooking  that  most  beautiful  little  lake,  Massasecum, 
whose  sandy  beach  and  pine  grove,  its  three  little  islands  and  the 
rounded  hill-top  upon  the  northern  side,  and  the  little  trout  brooks 
that  flow  into  it,  are  all  familiar  to  my  recollections,  although  over 
forty  years  have  passed  since  I  ceased  to  be  a  resident  of  the  town. 

Still  a  love  for  my  native  town  and  state  has  never  ceased  ;  and 
now  I  am  forced  to  say  that  a  little  warmer  feeling  remains  in  my 
heart  toward  my  native  town  than  any  other  spot. 

With  her  soil  mingles  the  dust  of  my  kindred,  and  for  that  reason, 
if  no  other,  she  has  one  spot  more  sacred  to  me  than  any  other. 

There  are  three  states  in  which  I  have  an  unsual  pride, —  my 
native  state,  the  first  state  of  my  adoption,  Illinois,  and  the  one  in 
which  I  DOW  live,  Iowa, —  but  as  all  the  states  are  at  peace,  and  in 
harmony  with  each  other,  I  will  close,  with  the  following  sentiment 
to, —  "The  American  Eagle. 

Standing  as  he  does  with  one  foot  upon  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
the  other  upon  the  Aleghanies,  clipping  one  wing  in  the  Atlantic, 


96 

the  other  in  the  Pacific,  sweeping  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  with  his  tail, 
and  drinking  fom  Lake  Superior, —  may  he  ever  occupy  that  high 
and  noble  position. 

YOURS  RESPECTFULLY, 

WM.  HALE. 


LOST  NATION,  CLINTON  Co.,  IOWA,  SEPT.  22,  1887. 

Centennial  Celebration  Committee,  Bradford,  N.  H. 

Messrs  : — 

Your  invititation,  addressed  to  my  father,  came  into  my  pos- 
session some  time  since.  I  regret  very  much  that  no  member  of  our 
family  will  be  able  to  be  present  at  the  one  hundredth  anniversary 
of  old  Bradford.  I  sincerely  assure  you  it  would  be  a  great  pleas- 
ure to  visit  the  scenes  of  our  childhood,  meet  the  few  friends  that 
are  now  left  to  greet  us,  gaze  once  more  on  the  grand  old  hills,  and 
see  nature  as  she  seemed  in  our  earliest  day.  Though  now  far 
removed  from  our  early  home,  and  situated  amid  the  business  and 
bustle  of  the  rapidly  growing  West,  the  memory  of  the  dear  old 
town  is  ever  green. 

My  grandfather,  Jonathan  Morse,  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in 
Bradford,  when  the  spot  where  your  flourishing  town  now  stands 
was  one  wild  waste  of  timber,  traversed  by  no  wagon  roads,  and 
their  only  means  of  travel  was  on  horse-back.  He  lived,  however, 
to  see  the  beautiful  town  spring  up  in  the  wilderness. 

My  father,  Amos  Morse,  removed  to  Iowa  in  1855,  where  he 
lived  until  his  death,  which  occured  in  1880.  My  mother  is  still 
living,  and  in  her  eighty-first  year.  The  family  all  unite  in  thank- 
ing you  for  remembering  us  after  our  long  absence,  and  hoping  the 
next  centennial  anniversary  will  find  the  grand  old  town  still 
prospering,  and  with  as  large  a  number  of  patriotic  citizens  to  cele- 
brate the  day,  as  I  am  sure  will  assemble  in  honor  of  this  event. 

YOURS  RESPECTFULLY, 

PERKINS  MORSE. 


97 
SOUTH  NorairDGEWocK,  MAINE,  AUG.  26,  1887, 

Messrs.   Centennial   Celebration   Committee  : — 

Your  invitation  is  received.  It  would  be  a  pleasure  to 
comply  and  be  with  you,  and  yet  a  painful  one  in  view  of  those 
to  be  missed  at  your  gathering.  In  fact  the  dropping  out  of 
friends  began  to  oppress  me  before  leaving,  and  since  that  time  there 
lias  been  not  a  few  to  pass  away.  Yet  I  would  be  glad  to  be  with 
you,  but  circumstances  likely  will  forbid.  Mrs.  P.  is  in  the  midst 
of  a  typhoid  fever,  and  my  time  is  otherwise  compromised.  I 
trust  you.  will  realize  the  anticipated  pleasure  and  benefit  from 
your  gathering. 

Thanking  you    for  the   favor   of  an   invitation,  I  wish  you   all 
success. 

For   the  family, 

E.    PKPPER, 


STEWARTSTOWN,  SEPT.  24,  1887. 

Centennial  Celebration  Committee,  of  Bradford,    N.  H. 
Dear   Sirs : — 

Your  kind  invitation  to  me  and  family  to  be  present 
at  the  centennial  anniversary  of  my  native  town  was  duly  received. 
It  would  give  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  reunite  with  the  as- 
sociates of  my  youth  and  young-womanhood  upon  the  soil  of  my 
birth.  The  faces  and  forms  of  those  surviving  friends,  whose 
memory  is  fostered  by  many  pleasing  recollections  and  golden 
ties,  like  our  own,  must  be  so  changed  by  the  processes  of  time 
as  to  make  us  almost  unrecognizable  to  one  another,  yet,  by  such 
a  meeting  we  would  probably  soon  be  able  to  identify  the  most 
altered  countenance.  Such  a  meeting  and  reversion  to  old  events 
must  be  a  happy  one  indeed.  Would  that  I  could  be  with  you, 
but  distance  and  age  forbid  the  undertaking.  Please  convey  my 
sincere  regards  to  those  present,  and  say  that  the  associations  of 
my  early  life  in  Bradford  will  be  the  last  to  be  effaced  from  my 
fading  memory.  If  I  never  meet  them  again  in  mortal  life  may 
there  be  u  glorious  reunion  hereafter,  where  the  full  fruition  of  our 
hopes  are  realized. 

Very  truly   yours, 

JULIA  A.  DAVIS  FLANDERS. 

13 


M 


BOONE  STATION,  IOWA,  SEPT.  22,  1887. 

To  Charles  F.  Davis,  Horace  K.  Martin,  George  S.  Morgan, 

Centennial  Committee,  Bradford,  N.  H. 
Gentlemen :— 

It  is  with  sincere  regret  that  I  find  myself  nnable 
to  accept  your  kind  invitation  to-  be  present  at  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  your  town,  and  the  home  of 
my  boyhood. 

Its  first  settlement  having  been  made  in  1771  by  my  great-grand- 
father, Deacon  William  Presbury,  sixteen  years  previous  to  its. 
incorporation,  which  fact  makes  this  reunion  of  former  residents 
of  the  town,  relatives,  friends,  and  their  descendants,  doubly  in- 
teresting to  me. 

Bradford  one  hundred  years  ago,  and  Bradford  to-day,  would 
not  be  recognized  by  its  incorporators.  Then  with  scant  inhab- 
itants and  uncultivated  lands ;  now  with  its  pleasant  farms  and 
beautiful  villages,  teeming  with  wealth,  enterprise,  education  and 
refinement.  The  grand  old  town  has  been  ably  represented  in  Con- 
gress by  her  sons,  who  were  also  among  the  first  and  bravest  to 
defend  the  honor  of  the  glorious  old  flag  and  all  that  its  stars  and 
stripes  implied.  Bradford ! —  may  her  prosperity  be  as  lasting 
as  her  "Eternal  Hills." 

Yours  with  kind  regards, 

ORLANDO  THATCHER  MARSHALL. 


ST.  THOMAS,  ONT.,  SEPT.  3,  1887. 

(Charles  F.  Davis,      } 
Horace  K.  Martin,     j-      Committee. 
George  S.  Morgan,  j 

Gentlemen : — 

Your  notice  of  the  centennial  celebration  on  the  27th 
of  September,  at  Bradford  has  been  forwarded  to  me,  asking  my 
attendance.  I  deeply  regret  that  owing  to  pressing  business  en- 
gagements I  cannot  be  with  you. 

We  cannot  but  look  back  with  admiration  at  the  determination 
and  perseverenue  shown  by  our  fathers  and  mothers  one  hundred 
years  ago.  Before  them  stood  a  heavy  timbered  forest,  the  out- 


growth  from  a  bard  and  rocky,  yet  fertile  soil.  They  came  to  Brad- 
ford with  small  means  and  but  little  money,  but  with  what  they 
had,  they  resolved  to  clear  and  subdue  those  forests  and  to  convert 
them  into  cultivated  fields,  rich  meadows,  and  green  pastures ;  to 
build  houses  and  produce  and  manufacture  every  thing  necessary 
to  make  them  an  independent,  self-sustaining  people —  and  it  was 
done.  Now  do  not  forget  that  all  that  they  had  was  "home  pro- 
duction." The  same  industry  and  energy  would  make  Bradford 
a  garden  to-day.  I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  be  with  you. 

Very   truly  yours, 

J.  P.  MARSHALL, 


STARINS,  GLEN  ISLAND,  NEW  YORK,  SEPT,  19,  1887, 

To   the    Hon.    Committee 

of  the  Centennial  Celebration, 

of   Bradford,   N.   H. 
Gentlemen: — 

On  receiving  your  kind  invitation  to  be  present  on 
Tuesday,  Sept.  27th,  1887,  to  celebrate  good  old  Bradford's  one 
hundredth  anniversa'ry,  I  am  carried  back  to  my  boyhood  days, 
and  tears  are  brought  to  my  eyes.  God  bless  old  Bradford !  it 
is  the  dearest  spot  on  earth  to  me  ;  in  it  I  spent  my  happiest  days, 
and  all  that  is  earthly  of  my  beloved  parents  are  sleeping  in  your 
midst.  Well  do  I  remember  the  scenes  of  my  childhood,  free 
from  cares  and  sorrows,  enjoying  in  field  and  on  hill  our  childish 
sports  and  watched  and  cared  for  by  loving  parents.  There  is  the 
same  old  orchard,  the  same  old  spring,  whose  cool  and  pure  water 
often  soothed  my  parched  lips.  In  those  days  the  boys  and  girls  of 
good  old  Bradford  took  their  full  measure  of  pleasure.  The  winter 
with  its  continuous  snow  storms  for  months  gave  them  the  joyous 
sleigh  rides,  parties,  and  other  festive  occasions. 

The  first  rays  of  spring  was  the  signal  for  making  maple  sugar, 
and  then  followed  summer  work,  interlarded  at  times  with  fishing 
and  berrying,  until  harvest  with  its  apple  paring  bees  and  pump- 
kin pies  ended  the  season. 

For  thirty-five  years  I  have  only  occasionly  visited  the  dear 
old  town,  but  in  all  my  travels  and  ups  and  downs  in  life  it  has 


ioa 

remained  to  me  always  the  dearest  spot  on  earth.  Situated  in  one 
of  New  Hampshire's  most  beautiful  valleys,  surrounded,  as  you  sayr 
"by  the  eternal  hills  of  nature's  own  protection,"  and  old  Kear- 
aarge  in  the  distance,  makes  it  to-day  one  of  New  Hampshire's- 
most  charming  spots. 

But  the  object  of  your  celebration  brings  us  back  to  the  days 
when  it  took  stout  and  brave  men  and  women  to  cast  their  lot  io 
the  wilderness,  as  Bradford  was  then  surrounded  by  savages  and 
beasts  of  prey.  They  were  God-fearing  men  and  women,  and  with 
His  help  went  to  work.  Log  houses  were  built,  fields  planted  where 
once  only  forest  and  wilderness  could  be  found.  We,  the  descend- 
ants of  these  brave  ancestors  should  offer  up  to  the  throne  of 
heaven  a  silent  prayer  to  their  sacred  memory. 

My  father  was  born  in  the  year  1780,  in  the  then  lower  part  of 
the  town.  I  well  remember  when  on  cold  winter  evenings  we 
gathered  around  the  fireside,  he  related  the  early  history  of  old 
Bradford,  with  its  dangers  from  savages  and  wild  animals.  We 
listened  to  it  with  open  ears  and  bulging  eyes,  of  the  dangers 
that  these  brave  men  and  women  had  to  endure  to  protect  their 
homes  and  families.  Those  were  the  days  that  tried  men's  souls. 

But  old  Bradford  has  another  source  of  which  she  may  be  proudT 
she  has  turned  out  some  of  New  Hampshire's  most  celebrated  men, 
such  as  the  late  Hon.  M.  W.  Tappan,,  who  held  many  offices  of 
trust  with  great  honor,  the  Hon.  Bain  bridge  Wadleigh,  late  United 
States  senator,  the  Hon.  J.  Q.  A.  Brackett,  Lieutenant-governor 
of  Massachusetts,  and  Hon.  J.  W.  Morse,  state  senator. 

The  good  people  of  old  Bradford  have  many  things  to  be  thank- 
ful for,  and  I  pray  that  the  good  Lord  in  heaven  may  grant  you 
His  blessing,  that  you  may  enjoy  prosperity  and  long  life. 

I  am  extremely  sorry  not  to  be  able  to  be  present  at  this  great 
event  of  my  dear  old  native  town,  but  my  business  engagements 
are  such  that  they  will  not  permit  my  participation. 

I  send  good  cheer  to  the  good  people  of  the  dear  old   town. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

E.  E.    ABBOTT. 

One  of  old  Bradford's  "boys." 


101 


PKESCOTT,  Wis.,  SEPT.  20,  1887. 

To  Messrs.  Davis,  Martin,  and  Morgan, 

Com.  of  Centennial  Celebration. 
Sirs  :— 

I  have  the  pleasure  of  acknowledging  your  invitation  to 
the  ceremonies  attending  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
settlement  of  my  native  town,  and  regret  that  circumstances  will 
not  admit  of  my  being  able  to  meet  with  old  friends  and  neighbors 
on  that  joyful  occasion. 

Hoping  the  day  may  be  in  every  way  enjoyable, 
I  remain  sincerely  yours, 

H.  C.  MARSHALL. 


United  States  Land  Office,  Central  City,  Colorado,  Sept.  22,  1887. 

Messrs.    Davis,  Martin,  and  Morgan, 
Gentlemen : — 

I  received  your  kind  invitation  to  the  celebration 
of  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  the  town 
of  Bradford,  for  which  I  give  you  my  sincere  thanks,  and  nothing 
would  give  me  more  pleasure  than  to  be  there,  but  as  that  is  not 
possible,  I  must  respond  by  letter  and  assure  you  that  I  have  great 
love  for  Bradford  people  for  their  kindness,  liospitalitjr,  moral 
worth,  and  staunch  friendship,  which  I  shall  never  forget;  and  also, 
my  loved  ones  that  are  there  entombed —  my  wife,  daughter,  and 
son —  make  their  memory  fresh  to  my  mind  ;  and  I  remember  the 
first  school  I  taught  sixt3r-five  years  ago,  when  I  was  about  eighteen 
years  old,  and  that  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  eight  winters' 
teaching.  I  remember  going  through  Bradford  from  Ilillsborough, 
seventy  years  ago,  when  I  was  twelve  years  old,  to  Fisherslield, 
[now  Newbury  ]  to  my  Uncle  Leach's,  and  stayed  all  winter,  and 
went  across  Lake  Sunapee  in  winter  ;  arid  I  remember,  too,  of  catch- 
ing trout.  I  could  tell  a  good  deal  more  of  interest  about  Bradford, 
but  it  would  not  be  worth  while,  as  you  know  it,  perhaps,  better 
than  I  could  tell  it.  I  close  my  remarks  with  thanks  and  love  to 
all  of  E.  K.  Baxter's  Bradford  people. 

I   will   now   say   to   you,    as  committee,  and  through   you  to  all 


102 

the  people  of  Bradford,  that  I  send  my  love,  and  hope  the  present 
generation  will  fulfil  their  mission  as  sons  and  daughters  of  their 
sires  and  grandsires,  in  like  moral  worth,  and  patriotic,  noble  lives ; 
and  that  you  may  be  prospered  in  all  good  works  is  the  wish  of 
your  true  friend  and  well-wisher. 

E.  K.  BAXTER. 


GRIGGSVILLE,  ILLINOIS,  SEPT.  7,  1887. 

{Charles  F.  Davis,       j 
Horace  K.  Martin,     >  Committee. 
George  S.  Morgan,    J 

Gentlemen : — 

I  received  from  you  an  invitation  to  attend  the  cen- 
tennial celebration  at  Bradford  on  the  27th,  Inst.  for  which  I 
heartily  thank  you,  and  through  you,  the  citizens  of  Bradford. 

Nothing  would  give  me  more  pleasure  than  to  meet  old  friends 
and  associates  of  the  dear  old  town  of  Bradford.  There  are  mem- 
ories still  fresh  in  my  mind  of  scenes  and  acts  that  transpired  in  the 
good  old  town,  that  give  me  much  pleasure  to  contemplate,  and 
were  it  possible  to  be  with  you  on  that  occasion  and  talk  over  the 
good  and  sociable  times  we  then  had  together,  and  to  see  the  young 
children  [that  were  then  children]  grown  to  manhood  and  woman- 
hood, and  taking  their  fathers'  and  mothers'  places  in  conducting 
the  business  of  the  day  instead  of  fathers  and  mothers.  But  I  shall 
be  obliged  to  forego  the  great  pleasure  that  I  should  enjoy  in  being 
with  you  on  that  interesting  occasion.  There  are  many  friends 
in  your  town,  some  living,  and  some  that  have  passed  away,  from 
whom  I  have  received  many  favors  for  which  I  feel  very  grateful ; 
and  I  should  be  most  happy  to  meet  them  once  more,  but  my  health 
is  very  poor.  I  was  very  sick  last  winter ;  was  confined  to  the  house 
ten  weeks,  and  have  not  fully  recovered ;  I  do  not  think  I  could 
stand  the  journe}1.  I  think  my  son  Edwin  may  be  with  you  on  that 
occasion ;  he  thinks  now  that  he  shall  go  if  he  can  leave  his  busi- 
ness, I  hope  he  will.  I  will  now  stop  as  I  have  already  written 
more  than  I  have  for  many  months. 

Hoping  you  will  excuse  me  for  taxing  your  patience  so  much, 
I  will  say  in  conclusion  that  I  am  seventy-five  years  old  to-day ; 


103 

this  is  my  birth-day.  You  have  my  best  wishes  for  the  success 
of  the  celebration,  for  a  success  I  know  it  will  be,  under  the  man- 
agement of  so  competent  a  committee.  Hoping  that  you  will  have 
good  weather  for  the  occasion,  and  thanking  you  again  for  your 
kind  invitation, 

I   remain    sincerely   yours, 

M.    E.   BAXTER. 


LOWELL,    SEPT.    22,    1887. 

Messrs.  C.  F.  Davis,  H.  K.  Martin,  and  G.  S.  Morgan  ; 
Gentlemen: — 

I  have  delayed  answering  your  letter  inviting  me 
to  attend  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  town  of  Bradford 
until  this  time,  in  the  hopes  that  I  shall  be  able  to  accept  your 
kind  invitation,  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  it  will  be  impossible  for 
me  to  do  so.  It  would  give  me  very  great  pleasure  to  be  present 
and  help  to  celebrate  the  centennial  of  the  old  town  of  Bradford, 
where  I  was  born,  and  where  I  spent  the  happy  days  of  boyhood, 
and  where  reposes  the  dust  of  my  father  and  mother,  my  grand- 
father and  great-grandfather.  My  great-grandfather  was  the  sec- 
ond man  that  settled  in  the  town  of  Bradford,  and  he  built  the 
second  house  that  was  built  in  the  town.  How  well  I  can  re- 
member the  old  house ;  it  stood  where  Mr.  Allen  Cressy's  house 
stands  now.  There  in  the  old  house  my  dear  mother  was  born, 
and  there  I  was  born ;  but  the  old  house  is  gone  and  most  of  the 
friends  and  companions  of  my  boyhood.  I  thank  you  for  the  in- 
vitation, and  regret  that  I  cannot  be  with  you.  My  best  wishes 
attend  you,  and  may  the  celebration  be  a  glorious  success,  and 
may  it  awaken  a  renewed  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  the  town. 

I  remain  yours  truly, 

H.  B.  BARNES. 


BANCROFT,  CUMMING  Co.,   NEB.,  SEPT,  20,   1887. 

Centennial  Celebration  Committee,  Bradford,  N.  H. 
Dear   Sirs: — 

Your  very  kind  invitation  is  at  hand,  and  I  can 
assure  3-011  that  it  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  be  present  and 
unite  with  you  in  your  centennial  celebration,  for  very  "dear 
to  my  heart  are  the  scenes  of  my  childhood,  when  fond  recollections 
presents  them  to  view ;"  but  I  am  so  far  removed  from  them  all 
that  I  shall  be  able  to  speak  to  you  only  through  the  medium  of 
the  pen.  Since  receiving  your  invitation,  I  have  in  memory  re- 
viewed many  of  the  events  of  my  earlier  life  in  the  old  Granite 
State,  and  especially  in  your  town,  for  the  Lord  has  been  very  gra- 
cious unto  me  in  sparing  to  me  my  natural  faculties,  my  father  hav- 
ing died  when  I  was  quite  young,  too  young  to  remember  him.  I 
was,  when  but  a  mere  child,  thrown  upon  my  own  resources  for  a 
livelihood.  My  first  experience  was  in  the  employ  of  Jonathan 
Hoyt,  who  was  at  that  time  living  on  the  homestead  with  his  father. 
I  receivejl  as  wages  for  my  labor  for  the  season  three  four-pence- 
ha'penies.  I  remember  it  as  though  it  were  but  last  cherry  season. 
How  that  good  old  lady,  whose  name  was  many  years,  [and  I  pre- 
sume is  until  this  day,]  familiar  to  every  one  in  connection  with  a 
little  "powder  horn"  story ;  how  she  used  to  tie  one  of  those  spa- 
cious pockets,  such  as  were  worn  by  our  mothers  and  grandmothers 
in  those  days,  around  my  waist  and  send  me  up  into  the  cherry 
trees  to  pick  cherries.  When  I  was  about  ten  years  of  age  my  old- 
est brother.  Isaiah,  married,  and  I  went  to  live  with  him,  and  re- 
mained with  him  until  I  was  of  age,  when  I  went  to  Francestown. 
It  was  while  I  was  living  with  my  brother  that  I  formed  the  habit 
of  smoking,  thinking  it  very  manly ;  but  when  my  brother  found 
it  out  he  broke  my  pipe  and  forbid  my  using  tobacco.  Of  course 
I  felt  very  much  wronged  at  the  time,  and  have  never  since  then 
used  it  in  any  form.  After  I  became  of  age,  and  while  I  was  in 
the  employ  of  Dr.  Thomas  Eaton  of  Francestown,  I  resolved  with 
one  or  two  others  to  abstain  during  the  haying  season  from  the 
use  of  rum,  which  at  that  time  was  considered  indispensible,  es- 
pecially for  laboring  men,  and  finding  I  was  better  able  to  work 
without  than  with  it,  discarded  its  use  forever,  and  now,  although 
eighty-one  years  old  last  April,  I  pass  for  a  man  of  sixty  and  read 
and  write  without  spectacles.  After  living  nine  years  in  Frances- 


105 

town,  where  I  married  toy  wife,  I  returned  to  Bradford,  where  I 
lived  until  August  1854,  when  I  removed  to  the  then  new  state 
of  Iowa,  from  which  place,  after  a  residence  of  about  thirty  years, 
I  came  to  Nebraska,  the  state  which  embraces  the  tract  of  country 
which  but  a  few  years  ago  was  known  as  the  great  American  Desert. 
I  wish  I  could  give  you  a  faint  idea  of  how  labor  is  performed 
in  this  new  country.  I  cannot  help  contrasting  the  present  with 
the  past  in  regard  to  labor-saving  machines  and  the  great  amount 
of  work  done  with  them  ;  instead  of  dropping  corn  with  the  hand 
and  covering  it  with  the  hoe,  the  horse  planter  is  used.  A  year 
ago  last  spring  as  I  was  passing  a  man's  corn  field  of  seventy-five 
acres,  I  asked  him  if  that  was  about  an  average  sized  field  for 
this  country,  and  he  said  he  thought  it  was.  I  asked  him  if  he 
had  a  good  stand  of  corn,  and  he  said  all  but  fifty  acres  which  he 
had  to  replant.  He  took  his  team  and  planter  into  the  field  one 
morning,  and  the  next  day  about  five  o'clock  the  work  of  replanting 
was  completed.  The  rows  were  one  half  mile  long.  When  the 
corn  was  ripe,  instead  of  hauling  it  to  the  barn  to  be  husked  even- 
ings and  rainy  days,  it  is  husked  from  the  stalk  in  the  field  and 
thrown  into  wagons,  in  which  it  is  carried  to  cribs  holding  in  some 
instances  thousands  of  bushels ;  and  instead  of  being  shelled  on  a 
pod-augar,  shovel,  frying-pan  handle,  or  other  device  attached  to  a 
wash-tub,  it  is  mostly  shelled  by  horse-power  machinery.  Instead 
of  the  hand  sickle  we  have  the  reaper  and  binder  combined,  with 
which  a  man  and  his  wife  can  cut  and  shock  two  hundred  acres 
of  grain  in  a  season,  the  woman  driving  the  reaper,  and  the  man 
doing  the  shocking.  Instead  of  the  scythe,  hand  rake,  and  hay- 
rack, we  have  the  mower,  hay-sweep,  drawn  by  two  horses,  and 
stacker,  with  which  my  neighbor  and  his  three  boys,  aged  about 
ten,  twelve,  and  twenty  years,  put  up  in  one  day,  this  season, 
thirty  tons  of  hay.  He  said  a  full  set  of  men,  in  heavy  grass, 
would  put  up  sixty  tons  in  a  day.  They  stack  it  in  the  field,  in 
stacks  ranging  from  ten  to  thirty-five  tons.  From  the  east  door 
of  my  daughter's  house  in  the  village  one  can  count  over  one  hun- 
dred such  stacks  without  turning  the  head.  Our  roads  here  are 
mostly  made  without  any  work  at  all,  but  in  some  low  places  grad- 
ing is  necessary,  which  is  done  with  a  machine  worked  by  three 
men  and  twelve  horses.  I  rode  on  one  yesterday  which  was  at 
work  near  the  village ;  with  it  they  made  one  half  mile  of  road 
in  a  day,  doing  the  work  of  fifty-nine  scrapers  with  as  many  teams 
and  men.  I  could  not  help  thinking  what  a  contrast  between 

14 


106 

that  grader,  and  the  one  worked  by  two  men,  and  used  when  I 
was  u  voung  man.  Verily  a  man  must  go  west  to  see  modern 
improvements.  Among  other  things  which  come  to  my  mind  is 
the  remembrance  of  the  tirst  wagon  brought  to  the  town  of 
Bradford,  and  owned  by  Esq.  Raymond ;  also  the  one  made  by 
Peter  Cook,  and  called  Cook's  quill-wheel.  I  could  speak  of 
many  other  things,  but  I  fear  I  have  already  trespassed  upon 
your  time  and  patience,  and  will  close  by  thanking  you  for  your 
kind  invitation,  and  asking  to  be  kindly  remembered  to  all  who 
may  remember  me,  especially  to  my  brother  Mitchell  and  family. 
Wishing  you  a  pleasant  time  on  the  27th, 

I  remain  yours   truly. 

JOHN  MOUSE. 

P.  S.  The  man  that  replanted  the  corn  and  put  up  the  hay 
was  from  Nashua,  N  H.,  and  has  two  brothers  here,  all  wealthy 
farmers. 


We  were  unable  to  publish  all  the  letters  received,  but  in  kindly 
remembrance  we  give  below  the  names  of  those  whose  letters  are 
not  published. 


Mrs    L.  F.  Upton, Warner,  N.  H . 

Mason  Davis  Esq., Cambridge,  Mass. 

Miss  Addie  H.  Davis., " 

Thomas  M.  Davis. , " 

William  H.  Davis., " 

E.  F.    Davis., " 

Norman  G.  Carr. , Concord,  N.  H. 

J.  A.  Andrews,  firm  of  Andrews  Barker  &  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Edward  W.  Baxter., Griggsville,  111. 

William  B.  Bement  , Philadelphia,  Penn. 

William  Ward. , Stoneham,    Mass, 

Mr.  &  Mrs.  N.  F.  Lund., Concord,  N.  H. 

Mrs.  J.  Wr.   Osgood., Stoneham,  Mass. 

Mrs.  Olive  8.  Prescott., Ripley,  Maine. 

Charles  H.  Prichard, Fitchburg,   Mass. 

George  W.  Abbott, Somerville,  N.  J. 

Henry  Foster, Newport,  N.    H. 

Mrs.  S.  E.  Clement, Hillsboro'  Br.  N.  H. 


107 


N.  C.  Todd, New  London,  N.  II. 

Ezariah  Rowe, Goffstown,  N.  H. 

Almon  Putney  and  family, Deering,  N.    H. 

H.  A.  Cressj*, Manchester,  N.  H. 

Wm.  H.  Dole,  Dole  Fertilizer  Co Boston.  Mass. 

Sidney  J.  Dowlin, Henniker,  N.  H. 

Jason  Bagley, Nashua,  N.  H. 

Miss  Abzina  Eaton, Button,   N.   H. 

Mrs.  James  AVilkins, Henniker,  N.  H. 

Mrs.  M.  Anderson, Lawrence,  Mass. 

James  H.  Dowlin, West  Henniker,  N.  H. 

S.  F.  Lund, Newport,  N.  H. 

W.  C.    Sturoc  Esq., ; Sunapee,  N.  H. 

F.  W.  Hale, Henniker,  N.  H. 

Frank  L.  Griffin, North  Sutton,  N.  H. 

George  H.  Brockway, Pratt's  Station   N.  Y. 

Hartwell  Tuttle, Hancock,  N.  H. 

Mrs.  L.  G.  Stanley, Salem,  Mass. 

Mrs.  Augusta  W.  Brown, Amherst,    N.    H. 

W.  S.  Hart,   Hawk's  Park,  Fla. 

C.  R.  Andrews  Agt.  W.  A.  Woods'Harvester,  Lawrence,  Kan. 

J.  W.  Bray, Gloucester,     Mass. 

A.  B.  Jenny, Windsor,    Vt. 

Mr.  &  Mrs.  W.  S.  Richardson, Lowell,   Mass. 

P.  C.  Wheeler  Esq., Warner,    N.    H. 

Mrs.  Almira  Shattuck  Albee, Claremont,  N.  H. 

Henry  B.    Ward, Boston,    Mass. 

Frank  Bartlett  and  family, Warner,  N.  H. 

F.    T.    Sawyer, Milford,  N.  H. 

E.    H.   Marshall, Eldora,    Iowa. 

H.   W.    Carter, Lebanon,    N.    II. 

Corodon  Spaulding, Canton,    Mass. 

Chas.    P.    Pike, Hillsboro',  Br.  N.  H. 

Mr.  &  Mrs.  Obed   Kimball, " 

Mrs.  Lewis  S.  Crosby, Hyde  Park,  Mass. 

Mrs.  M.  F.  Gardner, Sunapee,  N.  H. 

Mrs.  II.  G.  Moultou, Stoneham,    Mass. 

Mrs.  C.  C.  Tappan, Warner,    N.    H. 

Fred  R.  Felch,  Atty., Deny  Depot,  N.  II. 

Joel   Ward, Charlestown,  N.  H. 

Mrs.    Lydia  Stone, South  Sutton,  N.  H. 


108 


Miss  Ablrie  W.  Infills, ...         Nashna,    N.    H. 

Mrs.  Emeline  A.  T.  Bean, Warner,   N.    H. 

Mr.  &  Mrs.  K    K.  Hoyt, Penacook,  N.    H. 

Mrs.  Klk-n  K.  Maxfield, Nashua,   N.  H. 

Col.  B.  I*.  Burpee Manchester,   N.    H. 

Mr.  &.  Mrs.  Stephen  Austin, Manchester,  N.  H. 

Isaiah    Hoyt, East  Providence,    R.    I. 

Mr.  &  Mrs.  II.  C.  Brown, Clarernont,  N.    H. 

Miss  Mary  I).  Andrews, Concord,    N.    H. 

Mrs.  Margaret  Parkhurst, Bedford,  N.  H. 

Mrs.  Asa  Sargent,    Warner,    N .    II. 

Mr.  &  Mrs.  Mary  J-  Brown, " 

Henry  F.  Presby, Henniker,        " 

Mark   Pope, •  •  •  • .      Charlestown,     " 

Mrs.  H.   Sprague, Boston,    Mass. 

Miss   Myra    Perkins, Keene,    N.    H. 

Mrs.  Olive  H.  Brown, ....  Stoneham,  Mass. 

Augustus  Wilson  and  family, Ainherst,  N.    H. 

Mrs.    E.    Rowe, Warner,         " 

L.    A.    Presby' Billerica.    Mass. 

Mrs.  Wm.  G.  Wilder Clinton,        " 

Ruel   C.    Pike, San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Win.    L.    Sweatt, Arlington,   Mass. 

James   A.   Smith, Wilmot  Flat,  N.  H. 

Mrs.    D.  W.    Kilburn, Boston,   Mass. 

George   W.    Rowe, Newport,   N.  H. 

1 ).    F.    Cressy, Manchester,      " 

Mrs.    John   B.    Handv..  "  " 


109 


HYMN. 

Sung  at  close  of  Centennial  Celebration. 


AULD     LANG    SYNE. 

We  bring  Thee   here,  our  father's  God, 
Our  tribute  warm   and   deep; 

Where   once   our  sires   in  vigor   trod, 
Where   now  in   death   they  sleep. 

CHORUS. 
Of  Auld  Lang  Syne  we   sing, 

Of  Auld   Lang  Syne; 
We'll   drop  a. tear  in  memory  here 

Of  Auld   Lang  Syne. 

Hard  by  their  graves  the  altar  grew, 

A  temple   large   and   free; 
And   here   in  joys  and   sorrows  true, 

They  paid  their  vows  to  Thee. 

CHORUS. 

And   this   till   death   their  only  fold, 

Thy  praise  their  only  aim. 
Through  summer's  heat  or  winter's  cold 

The  long  procession  came. 

CHORUS. 

But  now,  O  Lord,  not  here  they  call, 

Nor  throng  nor  sacred   fane; 
To-day   these   graves  alone   of  all 

That  busy  scene   remain. 

CHORUS. 

But  o'er  their  dust  we  pray  that  we 
May  touch   Thy  garment   hem; 

And  the  same  voice  acknowledge  Thee 
That  bids  farewell   to   them. 

CHORUS. 

And  since  our  sires  through  all  the  past 

Were  safe  to  rest  or  roam, 
We  trust  our  fathers'  God  at  last 

WiJJ   bring  their  children    home. 

CHORUS. 


110 


THE    HILLS     OF     SOUTH     BRADFORD. 
By  Dr.  Weston,  a  former  resident  of  South  Bradford. 


The  Hills  of  South  Bradford,  how  nobly  they  rise, 
Unequalled  in  grandeur,  unrivalled  in  size, 
On  the  west  noble  Sunapee  raises  his  brow 
And  calmly  looks  down  on  the  valleys  below. 

Hence  onward  outstretching  to  Henniker  line, 
They  rear  their  proud  summits  and  splendidly  shine 
As  they  catch  the  first  gleam  of  the  sun's  early  ray, 
Or  throw  back  his  light  at  the  close  of  the  day. 

Across  these  broad  highlands  'tis  pleasant  to  roam, 
Where  the  cattle  and  sheep  find  shelter  and  home; 
In  groves  which  now  shelter  the  partridge  and  hare, 
Where  once  prowled  the  wildcat  and  ravaged  the  bear 

While  ages  successive  of  white  men  and  red 
Have  risen  and  flourished  and  sunk  to  the  dead; 
Everlasting  these  hills!  here  they  stand  and  have  stood 
On  their  granite  foundations    unchanged  since   the 
flood. 

And  still  as  the  torrent  ot  ages  rolls  on, 
When  all  now  alive,  to  oblivion  have  gone, 
These  hills  in  their  glory  yet  here  will  remain 
And  send  down  their  streams  to  enliven  the  plain. 

And  when  the  last  trumpet  its  clangor  shall  sound. 
And  flames  all  unearthly  the  globe  shall  surround; 
Oh,  then  it  must  happen,  but  never  before, 
That  the  hills  of  South   Bradford,   shall   flourish   no 
more. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


Form  L9-50m-9,'60(B3610s4)444 


Bradford  - 

B72B7  Proceedings  of 

the  Bradford 

centennial  celebration1 
at  Bradford 


1158  00734 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY 


A    001  337474 


F 

Mi 

B72B7 


